


Mermaid Korra

by Drowmonk



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 01:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4686338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drowmonk/pseuds/Drowmonk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra is a young adventurous mermaid seeking to learn more about the human world. One day she gets too close and is spotted by a young human woman. Follows her as she learns about the surface world and her own people's history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seeing and Being Seen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated my other fics. I'm working on them! Heres some Mermaid fluff while you wait! :)

Ugh! Dad can be such a worrier! I just wanted to see the humans up close, the dolphins do it all the time. They even show off their swimming ability to them. Not that my isolationist father would know that, he wants me to keep studying our people's magic so that I can lead our pod one day. But the humans are so interesting! They look like us, but they have legs instead of a tail. They also wear things on their torso and legs, I don't see the point myself, a coral armband is all I've ever felt the need to wear. I snap back to reality as my uncle Unalaq is continuing to drone on about how our people's magic is the cornerstone of our society.

I get why it's important, I just don't know why I need to keep being taught about why it's important. Isn't it enough I've mastered almost all of the forms? I can even turn the water around me into ice. He goes on to talk about how we're unique among the creatures of the sea. How we alone are the only mammal that can breathe both in the air and underwater. Ugh! This is what I get for going close to the beach yesterday, I knew dad would be furious when he found out. I did get a up close look at some of the humans though (not that I told him). I think back to yesterday to survive this torture.

\----------------

Okay, you've ditched the hunters and you're near the shallows of the human... Pod? What do they call themselves? school? Whatever, they're close and I want to get a good look today. I surface near the beach, but a ways out from shore. I don't want to show my true nature if I don't have to. Dad says the humans would hunt us for sport if they knew we still existed. I look off into the distance and see humans lying on the beach and others swimming near the shore. I yearn to join them, to play with them, to join in their joy of swimming. I see one human woman start to swim out my way, I duck down but not before she saw me out here.

I curse myself as I descend, she's headed right to where I was looking around. She's wearing their strange coverings, it's black and makes her look like a seal. She puts her head underwater and sees me. Whelp! Nothing for it now, I may as well talk to her, she knows I exist now. I swim up quickly and she jumps back in shock as I surface. "Don't be scar-ed." I say in broken air-speak, it's so much faster to use the clicks underwater but humans can't understand them. "I'm Korra, please don-t tell anyone you saw me. I wanted to see humans, you fascinate me." I keep absently adding clicks into my speech.

She looks surprised to hear me talk and keeps looking underwater at my tail. Then she looks at my chest and her cheeks turn red. Of course, the human taboo about their bodies. I'm not covering up for her, she has to deal with it. She looks me in the eye and I see fascination on her face. "You're a mermaid." She says, I normally find air-speak to be almost vulgar, but her voice makes it sound like whale-song. "A real mermaid, I thought you were just stories." Theres a look of wonder in her face, my belly flutters at the sight. She's an explorer like me, fascinated by the world.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you must think me rude." She continues as I get lost in her beautiful face, she's the prettiest human I've ever seen. "I'm Asami, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." I say looking into her green eyes. "Please don-t tell anyone you saw me." I repeat, she's still in awe at my existence.

She gets a confused look on her face. "Why can't I tell anyone? You're amazing, the whole world would be so excited to meet you."

I shake my head. "That would be bad. Humans would hunt us. Kill us. Hang us by hooks." Her face turns sad at my words, obviously picturing me being slaughtered. "Asami, you are a nice person. I can feel it. Other humans are not. Please don-t tell them about us."

She nods her head. "I understand, I won't tell anyone. But I have so many questions about you and your people. But my father will start to worry soon." She thinks for a moment. "Can you meet me at the dock at night? I'd love to talk with you." She has such a beautiful and hopeful look on her face, I feel my belly flutter again.

"I'd like that too. I can't meet tonight or tomorrow, but the next day yes. I will meet you there." I smile at her and she smiles at me. I look around and see I'm about to be discovered again and slip under the water before using my powerful tail to swim away. I turn back to see Asami sticking her head underwater to watch me leave.

\-------------

I snap out of my head to see my uncle glaring at me. "I'm sorry sir. Can you repeat the question." I say looking down.

He sighs. "I asked if you were listening at all, I know you find this boring, but it's important to know our people's unique heritage. Our magic allowed us to survive the fall of our homeland on the surface, we have lived underwater ever since. We are a special people, to forget that is to dishonor our ancestors."

"Yes sir. I meant no disrespect sir." But frankly there is only so many times I can hear about our superiority before I feel like we're hiding something. I'm at least smart enough not to tell uncle Unalaq _that_ thought.

He smiles at my show of humility. "Very well, Korra. You may go, but do try and remember to honor our people's heritage."

"Yes sir. I will sir." I say before waving goodbye and swimming to freedom. I love to swim as fast and hard as I can. I thank our ancestors for gifting us with our tails. I can outpace dolphins if I put my mind to it. I'm a good bit away from my pod before I stop and look around. I see coral, fish big and small, and manta rays gliding in their lazy way through the water. I smile at how beautiful our world is.

Then I spot her, my best friend in the world. "Naga!" I yell at her, she turns and swims at me. Any other shark, swimming that fast at me, and I'd be readying my magic to defend myself. But my girl wouldn't even think of trying to eat me. I hug her, running my hands along her rough skin as she nuzzles me. "There's my girl. Ready to play?" She pulls back and and gives me a look I know quite well. I grin and swim away from her as fast as I can.

She catches up with me and taps my tail with her nose. I turn and she's swimming away from me. Grinning the whole time I swim after her, it takes some extra effort, but I manage to touch her on the tail. She turns around and looks a little sad that I caught up with her so quickly. I pet her head. "It's okay girl, you're still the best shark a girl could ask for." She perks up at my compliment and leans into my rubbing. "Let's go find some food girl." I make a spear of ice and follow her to a place where some tuna are schooling. We manage to get a few from the swarm, she takes hers and I take mine.

I leave Naga behind, before heading into our pod's waters. Some people get nervous if I bring her with me. I add my tuna to the pile of fish being prepared for dinner tonight. The cooks are already heating some up in globes of water in their hands. Whatever Unalaq may think, I do respect and remember our ancestors. They learned of the powerful sea magic that allows us to survive down here in the depths. I thank them every day for the wonders of our world. And the great spirits Tui and La of course, the moon that lights the night and raises the tides, and the ocean that provides our food.

I eat dinner in good humor, looking forward to tomorrow night, when I'll meet Asami at her docks. I am eager to learn about the surface world. I hope she kept her word and hasn't told anyone about us, that would be bad. I shake the rude thought from my head, she seemed kind. I head to the reef with everyone else to sleep under our canopy, safe from attacks in the night by whales or sharks. I fall asleep and dream of beautiful Asami and her mysterious world above.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. :)


	2. At the Docks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra meets with the mysterious Asami at the docks.

Well waiting here is boring. My fault for thinking "at night" is the same thing as "just after the sun sets". I sigh and do some lazy rolls under the water while I wait for Asami to show up. I hear thudding of wood through the water, I look up to see the blurry image of a human standing on the dock looking out at the ocean. She's looking around. Asami! I swim to the surface, driving my whole torso out of the water and get a good look at her. She's surprised to see me surface and she's wearing a long set of clothes, red ones. It wraps around her lower body hiding her legs from view. I smile up at her. "Hello. It-s good to see you!" I still need to stop clicking when I speak above the water.

She's smiling and blushing slightly looking at my naked torso, but she deals with it and looks back at my face. "It's good to see you too, I was worried you wouldn't show. Sorry if I kept you waiting, I had to sneak out of my house." 

I know what that's like and wave my hands, dismissively. "It's fine, I shouldn-t have expected you right after sunset." I think back on what she said. "What-s a house?"

She laughs. I thought her talking voice was pretty, her laugh could make a whale beach itself. "It's a thing humans made to live in, to keep us safe. Like a cave, but made by people."

"Interesting!" I click out in excitement. "How many humans are in your pod?"

She looks at me oddly, then giggles. "You mean how many people in my family? Or who live with me on the surface?"

I smile at her. "Both! And what do you call your pod?" My clicks are getting less as I talk with her, soon I shouldn't be making such an embarrassing mistake.

"Well there are many people in the village behind me, that's the buildings behind me. In our home we have a few servants and my father." She looks sad for a moment. "I lost my mother when I was young."

I frown in sympathy for her, I don't know what I'd have done without my mother. "I'm sorry to hear that-Asami." She smiles at me in thanks then leans her head back and touches her neck. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine. And thank you for your sympathy, it's just a little taxing on my neck to keep looking down like that at you." She sits down on the dock and I can see her feet covered by yet more clothes as she dangles them off the dock.

I smile up at her, then I dive down and gain some speed, I turn around and jump out of the water then land on the dock beside her. She's sputtering and her clothes are soaked, it has to be more comfortable with the water on her now. I couldn't stand being that dry. "Is this better?" I ask.

"Aside from the torrent of water, and my dress sticking to me, and my hair a mess you mean?" She looks at me like she's angry. Korra you stupid show off! You should have just used sea magic to gently glide up here, not act like a dolphin and show how awesome you are.

I look down. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to show off a bit. I never get to talk to humans. I didn-t know you didn-t want to be wet, you were swimming when I met you."

She pulls her hair out of her face and smiles at me, making me blush at how pretty her face is, smiling covered in water. "It's fine, I should have known you would see water as a blessing and not an annoyance." She stands up and looks around, seeing nobody around she takes her clothes off, revealing more beneath them. How much do these humans wear? She puts the dress on one of the wooden pillars and sits back down next to me. "It'll dry faster that way."

I look in fascination at her pale yellowy skin, it's so much like mine except for the color. Mine being dark brown. She covers her torso with her arms and I look up at her face, she's blushing at my looking at her. I look away, "I'm sorry Asami. I know humans don-t like being looked at. But you're so pretty. And I've never gotten to look at a human up close before."

She puts a hand on my shoulder and I turn back to her and she's smiling at me. "It's fine, I shouldn't be so embarrassed. After all you're..." She gestures at me with her other hand. "well you're all there." She blushes again and keeps glancing at my body. 

I raise an eyebrow. "Of course I'm all here. Where else would I be?" What a strange turn of phrase.

She is looking away now obviously trying to form her response. "Well, I mean you're nude. I mean you don't wear clothes." She gestures to her "dress" and pulls on her remaining clothes.

I giggle. "I know what 'nude' means. I just hadn-t heard it be called 'all there' before!" I can't stop laughing now, Asami is burying her face in her hands and starts laughing with me. I finally recover, "Asami, we just don-t wear clothes. It would slow us down in the water. Haven-t you ever swam naked?"

She smiles at me. "Once or twice, when nobody else was around. It felt great I'll admit, but I am a private person and would feel humiliated to have anyone see me do it."

"Why do humans have this taboo on nudity?" I ask.

She shrugs and leans back on the dock. "We just do, I guess. Some cultures don't have it as much as mine. They swim naked all the time, no matter how many people are around. Y'know, I thought I was going to be the one asking questions tonight." She playfully pokes me in the arm.

I giggle at her ease with me, it's like we're old friends and not two women talking for only the second time. "Sorry, I just find humans fascinating. Ask away." I say laying on my back with my tail hanging partly over the edge in front of us. This dock isn't half bad to lay on, softer than a rock at least.

She looks at my face. "C-can I touch your tail?" She blushes, thinking she may have overstepped herself. I smile and put her hand below the swell of my lower torso. "It's so smooth! Like a dolphin's!" She exclaims. "You know, our stories of your people have you described as half fish."

I laugh and sit up on my elbows. "Half fish? That makes no sense! We're mammals!"

She laughs with me, she absently continues to stroke my tail, I don't mind at all. "I know, it doesn't make sense. But the last time anyone saw a mermaid was hundreds of years ago. And that was by drunk sailors after being at sea for a month. Visions of half naked women are expected from lonely sailors when they're half asleep."

I continue to laugh with her, we sit there for some time just asking each other about our cultures. I see her eyes start to droop and she yawns and looks at her wrist. "Oh my god! I've been here for five hours with you! I need to get back home or dad will send a search party. I still have questions though." She looks panicky and starts putting her dress on, it's still a little damp but not like it was.

"I do too Asami." I think for a moment. "Do you know the island toward the rising sun a few leagues off shore?" She thinks for a moment then nods, it's a lonely island with nothing on it. "Can you meet me there in two days? We'll have all the time we need to talk then."

"Sounds perfect, I can take a small boat out there and meet you before noon."

I smile at her and jump back in the water, relishing it's cool embrace, I was feeling dried out. I resurface and look up at Asami. "You have a deal Asami!" I wave at her as she leaves, then dive down and hope nobody came looking for me. Or worried about me. Or anything really. I make it back just in time for dinner and am able to lie and say I was fruitlessly hunting until now.

After dinner we head to the sleeping area, my thoughts wander back to Asami and her amazing smile and kind heart. I can't wait to meet up with her again, she's amazing. Everything I could have hoped for in a human friend. I hope I get to know her better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More mermaid!Korra stuff. :) Thank you for reading.


	3. A day with the pod

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is excited about her new friend, but can she keep it a secret from her pod?

I'm smiling as I take today to rest a bit and daydream of Asami. She's so pretty and interesting! I can't wait to ask her more about humans and herself tomorrow! I'm swimming in circles around Naga who is relaxing with me today. She's just gliding through the water, letting the ramoras clean her after her meal. Suddenly my cousins float up in front of me, looking grim. That's just their faces though, they always look sad or angry about something. "Hello, Eska, Desna. Can I help you with anything?"

Eska narrows her eyes, "You seem far too happy lately, are you engaged in secret romantic relations?"

Desna chims in, "Yes, it would explain why you were smiling at dinner last night, even though you 'failed' at 'hunting'."

I roll my eyes at the twins, "You two need to get your minds out of the lower reef. There is nothing going on like that, I'm just in a good mood." I smile and hug Eska before she can escape. "I just love my family!"

Eska slips out of my grip and glares at me. "Do not squeeze me with your body. It is disgusting and slimy."

I pout my lips. "C'mon Eska! I'm not slimy!" I wink at her and burst into a grin. I worry sometimes that Eska and Desna take life too seriously, just like my uncle. "I really do love you guys though, even if you could stand to smile more."

They share a look, "Smiling is wasted energy, like hugs." Eska says in her usual monotone.

I sigh and shake my head at the twins, "As long as you're happy, don't let your father dictate everything you do." I smile at them, which earns me a glare that's been known to scare children. But I know my cousins' faces too well, their eyes are just a little loose, Desna is as close as he gets to laughing and Eska is about to smirk if she stays here much longer.

"We will leave you to your scary companion." They turn and slowly swim off, they never rush anywhere if they can help it. I shake my head, you wouldn't know it to look at them, but they're among the best at sea magic in our pod. I'm slightly better, but they're more controlled, I just have more raw power. I don't let it replace my body though, I always try and race every day. And I lift rocks to keep my arms strong, you never know when you could be beached and need to crawl away, or need to stab with a ice spear.

Speaking of races. I turn to Naga who is rolling in a lazy spiral, enjoying the care of her friends. "Hey Naga!" She perks up and turns to focus on me. "Let's race girl! To the far reef and back!" I turn and head off, she's close behind me soon enough and we're fin to fin. We reach the giant brain coral at the end of the reef and turn around, she gets the inside line and is ahead of me. I grit my teeth and force my body to swim harder, I move my whole spine to give power to my tail. I'm gaining on her but I just miss beating her to the finish line.

I'm breathing heavily and Naga swims triumphant circles around me as I float in exhaustion. "Yeah, yeah. You're a better swimmer." I smile at her excitement, some people find sharks hard to read, but I prefer her to the dolphins some like to befriend. Dolphins are jerks. I pet her as she nuzzles next to me, "You're a good girl Naga, I have to head home now though." She looks a little sad that I'm leaving her again, I wish I could take her into the pod with me. I lean in and whisper in her ear hole, "Tell you what, I'll take you to see Asami tomorrow. How does that sound?"

She does a quick spin and rolls, I know she's excited to spend time with me. I bid her farewell and head back home. Once there, I help my mom, Senna with setting up for tonight's meal, heating some meat here, cleaning a fish there, and adding seaweed for flavor. I notice we have some crabs to eat tonight, I lick my lips in anticipation of the delicacy. Mom comes up to me before dinner is served and takes me aside. "So Korra, I've noticed you're happier lately. You haven't been sneaking off to spy on the humans have you?" She says kindly in a concerned whisper so nobody else has to hear.

I look nervously around and whisper back, "I may have." I look down, "I just find them so interesting. We used to be human, shouldn't we know more about them? Their ships keep floating over us, it's only a matter of time before they remember we're here."

Mom sighs at me and strokes my back, taking me into a hug, "I know you feel you need to know all you can about them. But we don't interact with them, we keep the peace from our last war with the surface, you know that. Don't upset things, we live in peace with humans now."

I glare at her, "Peace? It's isolation. I know we nearly died out when we last met the surfacers. But that was hundreds of years ago. Why can't we just check in? See what they've done since?"

She looks at me sadly then sighs, "I know I can't keep you from spying on them. Just be careful okay? Human's don't keep their word, we learned that the hard way before, if our histories are true. They fear our magic."

I pull her tighter into the hug, "Thank you mom. Don't tell dad okay? He'll make me listen to uncle again."

She laughs, the sound releases the tension I didn't even know I had in my chest. "Sure thing sweety, I trust you to be safe. And you can handle yourself, you're stronger than most of the other warriors already."

I can't help but smile and flex my arms, "You know it! I'm going to take first watch on the canopy tonight, I hate waking early anyway." We head back hand in hand to dinner, floating pieces of fish and crab from person to person. We sing a song in thanks to our ancestors, some whales far off join us. They sing of cool waters and calm seas. Before long we're done with dinner and I stand guard at the entrance, it's mostly a formality. The sharks and dolphins in this area know to leave us alone.

I spend my time looking around and sometimes thinking about my mother's warning about human lies. Did Asami lie to me? Is she only interested in finding out enough about us to exploit us? I shake my head at the thought. No, she's kind and warm, she is genuinely interested in knowing about us. She wouldn't betray that trust. Although I should make it clear again that she can't tell anyone about me. Mom's right that not every human would be friendly like Asami. Hell, many would be happy to capture us, display us like some kind of trophy.

I need to know more about what humans are like now. Our information is hundreds of year out of date, full of repeated warnings not to venture out and find them. I can't imagine being so afraid of something that I'd rather destroy it than try and understand it. Like out magic, it's perfectly normal to me, but our history tells us humans find it scary. They even think it's evil, but nothing is truly evil. It's a tool, like a spear, it can be used to hunt for food or to kill someone else. It's our actions that define us, not our tools.

My thoughts are interrupted by the second shift, I thank them and head inside to sleep. I sleep fitfully, wondering if I'm endangering everyone by meeting with Asami.


	4. Land Meets Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra rendezvous with Asami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's longer than the last ones, but I hope you like it. :)

I'm lying on my back waiting for Asami to show, I'm idly stroking Naga's skin as she swims in lazy circles below the surface. I hear the crashing of waves on wood, I look over and smile, seeing Asami at the aft of a small sailboat guiding it to the island behind me. I wave at her and she waves back, before returning to her task, she then closes the sails and drops a anker off the side. I swim up to the side of the boat, she leans over to meet me. "Hey Asami! Good to see you!" I smile at her as she smiles at me.

"Hey you too." She turns her gaze to my side and looks suddenly scared. "Korra! There's a shark beside you!" She says pointing at Naga.

I laugh and rub Naga's neck just ahead of her dorsal fin, she rises into it. "It's okay, she's perfectly tame, she's been my best friend for years. She won-t hurt you or me." I'm still clicking on my contractions, I need to work on that.

Asami still looks nervous, I should have known to leave Naga behind, but I promised her I'd let her meet Asami. "O-okay, I'll just stay up here then?" Asami is really scared of her.

I frown and ask Asami to wait a moment. I duck underwater and tell Naga to head back home, I give her a hug and she swims off to find a meal. I resurface and see Asami looking at me oddly. "I told her to head home, she's not in the water near here anymore. I'm sorry, I shouldn-t have brought her." I look down in mild shame.

Asami breathes a sigh of relief, "It's fine, I just didn't expect you to have a pet shark. Do many merfolk keep sharks as pets?" She sounds more curious than afraid now that I sent Naga away.

I shake my head. "Most don-t. They prefer... Dolphins." I say with slight disdain, I hate dolphins, always causing trouble.

Asami laughs, "Not a fan huh?" She asks with a smile.

I shrug, "They're jerks, they suffocate fish by swimming around them in a circle, scaring them half to death before eating them. It's cruel. Sharks just eat them and have done with it."

Asami frowns, "That does sound awful, I can see why you might not like them."

I nod my head, "Anyway, you going to join me for a swim or what?" I say splashing some water against the side of her boat. She laughs and says she needs to get her clothes off first. I get excited thinking she'll join me nude, or "skinny dip" as she says humans call it. But no, she just takes off her outer layers of a skirt, shirt and hat, revealing the clothes she was wearing when I met her. A black skin tight suit that leaves the arms and legs bare, it looks nice I suppose.

She stands by the side of the boat and then jumps, diving in. She surfaces a few meters from me smiling, "Ah! That feels nice on such a hot day." She flips her hair back over her head and I feel my belly do a flip of it's own. Tui! She's pretty...

She raises an eyebrow at me, I blush realizing that I've been staring at her. "Sorry, I just got distracted by your hair for a moment." I blush harder, goodness Korra can't you keep from putting your fin in your mouth? She laughs at my clumsy explanation and I want to sink to the bottom of the sea.

"I'm sorry I laughed Korra." She says in a comforting tone. "It's just I've never had someone see my hair wet like this and call it pretty. It's a wet tangled mess."

I smile, glad she's not upset that I find her pretty, "I'm a mermaid remember? I don-t think I've ever had dry hair in my life."

She giggles, "Touche. Race you to the beach?" she asks with a glint in her eye.

I laugh, "You're on! Last one there has legs!" I let her get a good distance ahead of me as she swims off. She's halfway there when I start, I rush past her and do a jump out of the water and spin in the air landing a little hard on my back on the edge of the beach. "Ow, okay, that may have been a bad idea."

She's smiling as she comes in more gracefully to the shore, my throat goes dry as she walks out of the water. Little streams of water run down her body from her hair, following the contours of her body as she walks towards me. I shake my head, don't stare Korra, it's rude remember? I look back at her face and she's smirking at me. I blush again, "Sorry Asami, I keep staring, I just have never seen a human so close before." _And you're really pretty!_ I don't say out loud.

She laughs and waves her hand dismissively, "It's fine Korra, I was enjoying watching you look at me. You get this adorable wide-eyed look when you stare at me, it reminds me of when I was little, so eager to experience new things." She sits down next to me and I look at her legs beside my brown tail, it's surreal that I'm really talking to a human.

I scoot down to get a closer look at her feet, they're not really like hands at all. I look up at Asami, she's smiling at me, "May I touch your feet?" I ask hesitantly. She nods and lays back on to the sand. I gently take her right foot in my hands, she giggles at the contact. Ticklish eh? I feel the bones in her foot, they're like the ribs of my fin only thicker. Her toes are long and thin, it must help with walking somehow, moving them they bend quite a bit both ways. She giggles again when I touch her little toes. I smirk and look up at her, she's sitting up on her elbows and smiling at me.

I get a silly idea, I start running my fingers along the bottom of her foot, she bursts out laughing and I keep going, holding onto her ankle as she tries to pull her leg back. "Korra! Hahaha! Stop!" I look up and see tears running down her smiling face. I let go of her ankle and she pulls back, still laughing as she tosses a little wet sand at me. "You're awful!" She's saying it with a smile so I know she's not too serious. She looks sad for a moment, and then stares off into the distance. "I haven't been tickled like that since my mom..." Died. I feel my chest ache realizing I may have inadvertently brought those memories back to her.

I crawl up to her and place a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you Asami. I was just playing." I look over where she's staring, seeing the sun glinting off of the waves. Asami sees her mother's face in those waves.

I feel her hand on my chin as she turns me to face her, a sad smile on her face, "It's fine Korra. I haven't had that much fun in years, thank you." She lets go of my chin and I miss the contact, I smile and look away at the sea again.

"You're welcome Asami." Why is she making me feel so nervous and warm and happy? It's like we're meant to be together, even though that makes no sense. I just feel like I belong with her, like I can tell her anything. I look back at her and blush when I realize I've been holding her shoulder this whole time. But she hasn't complained, so I move closer to her and wrap my arm around her. She leans into me and we sit there for some time, just looking at the waves.

She raises her head and looks over at me, "Weren't we going to ask each other questions?" She asks with a warm smile on her face.

I smile back, "I was going to, but it felt so right to just lay here next to you." I blush a little but keep my eyes locked with hers. "You make me feel happy, I can-t explain it." Damn it I'm clicking again, I thought I'd fixed that.

She raises an eyebrow as she looks at me, "So it's not just me, I feel it too Korra." She looks down bashfully, "I've never felt so comfortable with someone before, not this quickly." She looks back up at me and I can see her soul in her eyes, she's tearing up a little, but smiling as she does it.

I start feeling a swell in my own chest and pull her into a hug, I just enjoy her warm embrace as she hugs me back. I feel so calm and safe with this woman. "KORRA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I jump out of her arms and look at the sound of the shout. Tui and La! What is dad doing here?!

He's gliding in on a swirl of water, meters above the normal surface. Asami slides behind me, whether she's scared of my father or his magic I don't have time to ponder. "Dad, I can explain!" I plead as he rolls in, he's like the ocean in a storm with rage at me. "Dad we can trust her, she's not like other humans. I just wanted to learn more about them. Dad?"

He's furious with me and just staring at the two of us, "How many times have I told you not to be seen by humans Korra?" His voice angry but with a undertone of concern and sadness. "They nearly killed us, they thought they had. I don't want history to repeat itself, not after centuries of peace with the surface."

"Asami hasn't told anyone, I swear it. We're still safe dad. She's friendly." 

I feel Asami move a little out from behind me, "She's right sir, I know that many humans would be cruel and capture or kill you if they knew you existed." Her voice is firm and calm, she's not as afraid as I feared.

Dad looks at her with suspicion, "I can't trust you, I don't know you. It's why our people forbid interaction with the surface in the first place." He sighs and looks back to me. "My daughter thinks we are stuck in the past and need to move forward. That humans are going to find us soon anyway."

I sigh at the old argument, "They are dad. We live so close to shore, it will only take a lucky diver and they'll know about us. Wouldn't it be better to know more about them before that happens?"

Dad sighs too, "You're not wrong about discovery. I just don't want you to be hurt Korra." He looks at me sadly. "But I can see you're very 'friendly' with this woman already. So instead of trying to fight against the current you've decided to swim in, I'll move with it's flow. Just be careful sweety, I love you." He sends a wave out to me and lifts me up to him. We hug and I thank him with tears in my eyes for understanding. He returns me to the beach and looks sternly at Asami, "If anything happens to my daughter, the ocean itself will be my tool for vengeance." With that so very dad-like line he returns to the water, leaving us alone once again.

I turn to look at Asami who is just kind of staring where my father reentered the water. She looks over at me, "So... That's your dad huh? How did he do that stuff with the water?" She's looking a little scared but mostly curious.

"It's sea magic, gifted by the spirits of the moon and ocean, Tui and La. They taught our ancestors how to live in the ocean and in return we offer them thanks." I pull a globe of water out of the ocean and hold it in my hands, Asami's eyes light up in wonder. "Our ancestors were driven out of their northern homelands, without this magic they would have died at the edge of the frozen sea." I turn the globe into ice and hand it to her. "Instead we lived in harmony with that cold sea, then we lived as nomads. Going from shore to shore, trading with costal humans, sharing stories."

"Why did you stop trading with humans?" She asks as she turns the melting ball over in her hands, looking at it in wonder.

I look out into the sea, "My dad (Tonraq) mentioned a war?" She nods, "Well that started when humans grew suspicious of magic, and the spirits of our world. They started worshiping their tools and forgot to honor the spirits that gifted them the ability to use them. So here we were, creatures of magic, who revere the spirits of the moon and ocean. Humans decided we were less than them, that we were abominations." Anger enters my throat as I keep talking.

I look over at Asami and see sadness in her face, I calm down a little seeing her next to me. "Anyway, they started killing us on sight because they saw us as evil. We would sometimes still try and trade with peaceful human tribes, but soon there were none. The surface became dangerous for us, any humans that saw us would attack with intent to kill. We lost so many of our people during that time, trying to fight back, we're just now back to a few hundred pods, living in the deep ocean. Mine is the closest to the land, and the most at risk if we're discovered again."

Asami puts the ice ball down and pulls me into a hug, "I'm so sorry Korra, I had no idea what humans had done to your people. I won't let that happen to you." I hear resolve in her voice and I believe her.

I pull out of the hug and look her in the eyes, "Thank you Asami. I know I can trust you." I look down, "I know we only met a few days ago, but I think of you as a friend Asami." And maybe something more, I can't deny that I find you attractive Asami. I can't voice that thought though, it's too much too soon. She's just learned that her people are to blame for the loss of magic in her world. I can't throw my feelings at her right now.

She raises my face with her hand on my chin, "I like you too Korra." She kisses my forehead and I feel my face turn red at the contact. She's just being friendly, don't make this weird. "So, you said humans used to have magic too? What kind of magic? What could we do?"

I relax at the change of subject, it allows me to calm down and hide my embarrassment. "Well, some of the coastal humans could change the direction of the wind, they were impressive sailors. Then some could make the rocks rise out of the ground, making new caves or drawing ore right out from the stone. Yet others could make fire spring from their hands, they lived in a cold area, but dressed like it was far warmer, they heated their own bodies to fight off the cold."

Asami is staring at me, in amazement, "That's incredible Korra! Why did we stop using magic?" She asks with a puzzled expression.

I don't really have a answer for her. "I don't know Asami, I know that our legends say they stopped revering the spirits. I think to use magic you have to believe in and respect the spirits of that magic, or they turn their backs on you. Maybe that's why. Some humans stopped revering them, and the next generations didn't know about them and so never learned of it." I look at her sadly, "It's a great loss for your people, the wonders I've heard about the surface in the time of peace!"

Asami smiles at my enthusiasm, "It does sound wonderful, I feel sad that we lost so much. I mean magic!" She throws her arms wide, "I know we have wonderful technology now, but I can't help but imagine what it would have been like with the help of magic. How much we could have done." She looks at me and I see a thought form in her head. "So you say that humans can't do magic because we stopped revering the spirits right?" I nod, wondering where she's going with this. "Well... Do you know the names of those spirits? Could I start revering them and learn from them?"

I think for a moment, "I'm not sure, it's been so very long. I don't know if the spirits can be killed, but maybe they stopped believing in humans. They may have seen what humans did to my people and forsook them."

She looks at me sadly, "So you don't think it's worth a try?" She sounds so sad to hear that magic may have been lost forever for her people, hundreds of years before she was born.

I pat her shoulder, "It might be, but I don't know their names, we just knew them as powerful spirits. We had Tui and La, we didn't need to learn the names of the others, maybe we should have." I say with regret.

She puts her hand on mine, "It's okay Korra, your people aren't to blame for the loss of spirits, mine are." 

I smile at her and turn my hand so that we are holding each other's hand. "You may have lost your magic, Asami. But I still think you're incredible." I say looking into eyes.

She blushes and squeezes my hand, "Thank you, Korra. So are you."

We spend the next hours talking about how humans have changed, what wonders they've built. And I talk about how some of our pods have built great castles out of ice near the north and south poles. The sun is half way down the sky, sunset should be starting in a few hours. My stomach rumbles, interrupting Asami's story, she laughs and I blush. "I have just the thing for that on my boat Korra. Care to join me for lunch?"

I smile, "Of course, I'd love to try some human food!" It feels good to be in the water again as we swim slowly to her boat. She invites me to come aboard as she climbs the ladder on the side up to the deck. I use sea magic to lift me up over the side, I lay down on the deck and wait for Asami to get the lunch she packed.

She's rummaging around then comes back with a box which opens up and has some things packed inside bits of ice. "Here we are, some fruits for me and I brought some grilled salmon for you." She says, "Unfortunately, the fish is cold thanks to the ice, it's better warmed up."

I smile and take the meat out of the box and draw some water up with my other hand, soon I have it inside a boiling globe, it's hot in moments and I return the water to the ocean. "Tui and La provide for us." I say to Asami's awestruck face. I take a bite of the fish and am surprised by the flavor, it's definitely salmon, but with a added something I don't recognize. It tastes great, and I say as much with my mouth full of the pink meat.

Asami laughs at my enthusiasm, "That flavor is the smoke from the fire used to cook it originally. I'm glad you like it." She's smiling at me as she eats her fruit. Soon we're both done eating and she licks the juices off of her fingers, it's enthralling watching her do that. She looks over at me staring at her again, "What?" She asks with a smile on her face.

I blush and look down, "Sorry, I just uh, you looked uh. Nice, eating that fruit is all." Smooth as ice Korra, really. You should teach people your ways of sticking your fin in your mouth.

She laughs warmly and I look up at her smiling face, "It's okay to watch me Korra, I won't bite you." She winks at me and I hear a "unless you ask me to" in that wink. This woman will be the death of me, I'm blushing like mad. She laughs again, "You're so easy to fluster. I'm sorry, I'm just playing with you." 

I narrow my eyes, "This is revenge for tickling your foot isn't it?"

She grins, "Maaaybe. You deserve it, if it is though." She says with mock sternness. We both laugh at ourselves, and soon enough the sun is setting, we watch is as it turns the sea orange. "I have to go home soon, father will worry if I'm out much later. When can we meet again?"

I smile sadly at her, I hate this part of talking with Asami, I wish I could stay with her longer. "Can you meet here tomorrow? As soon as you can is great for me, since dad knows what I'm doing I should be free to do it whenever now."

She smiles at me, "Tomorrow sounds great, dad will be overseeing a factory, so he shouldn't miss me too much." She bites her lip like she wants to say something but she doesn't.

I pull myself overboard into the waiting waves, "Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then!" I say as cheerfully as I can, I feel so melancholy leaving her.

She smiles at me leaning on the side of the ship, "Yeah, tomorrow then." She says it with forced cheer too, I wonder if she's feeling the same things as I am. Does her belly do flips when I'm around her? I shake myself for hoping she feels that way about me, I bid her farewell and dive down under the waves and head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that turned out nice and fluffy, everything is good. Korra can talk with Asami whenever she wants and Tonraq seems okay with it. Nothing could possibly go wrong...


	5. Rough Seas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is heading back to her pod, what awaits her now that they know she's been talking with humans?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another long one, buckle in. :)

I'm nearly at the pod when Naga comes up and pushes me back the way I came. "Naga, what are you doing? I need to go home, I can't play right now." I sigh, "I'm sorry I sent you away today, but Asami was scared." I pet her and swim around her, she moves to block me again. "Naga, move aside!" I point to the side, she looks sad and does as I say. I hate being so harsh with her but I do need to head home.

I head towards my pod and see everyone looking grim as I enter our home area. "Hey everyone, what's going on?" I ask with a feeling of dread in my stomach.

Uncle Unalaq comes forward and looks even more stern than usual. "Korra, Tonraq told us you have been interacting with the surface. This has been forbidden for centuries." I look around and see disapproval from many and sadness from others. "For this betrayal of your people I banish you from our pod and all the others in the sea. You are not welcome as one of our people any longer."

I can't believe this! "You can't do that! I want to talk to my dad!" I move to go around him, but he freezes the water in front of me and pushes me back with it.

"Your father is no longer our chief. Not after being so lenient with you, a clear case of nepotism. I've taken over as leader, you are banished Korra. Accept it with dignity."

I look around at my pod, my family. I start crying, so much for dignity. I can't see mom or dad anywhere in the crowd, Eska and Desna are grinning for once in their lives at me. "I want to see my father!" The water around me swirls in my rage and humiliation. To be publicly banished like this without warning!

Unalaq, just sighs, "He is resting after the ritual duel. You are no longer one of us, you must leave." He sends a burst of nearly frozen water at me, sending me spinning away like I'm a loose pice of kelp. I try and fight the current but he keeps pushing me until I relent and drift away, too depressed to keep fighting.

I start crying again and swim away, I can't believe what's happening. Naga joins me as I swim aimlessly. She gives me space, she was trying to warn me away from going home. "I'm sorry girl, I didn't know." Is all I can say. She nuzzles me as we continue onward, I don't know where I'm going. Then I realize I'm headed for Asami, but she'd be on shore by now. I sigh and then remember there are some caves near the cliffs on the far side of the bay. I should be safe there. With a plan I head to my new home, my heart aches at the thought. How could this have happened? What did uncle Unalaq do to my father? And where was mom?

I come to one of the caves and I head inside, I should be safe in here, Naga stays outside and I tell her to leave, I'll find her in the morning. As a added protection I freeze the entrance shut, it will melt, but I should have a few hours alone in here. It's dark and my thoughts keep drifting back to my father, and my banishment. I feel so helpless, I'm alone for the first time in my life. I miss my pod, I miss belonging. I start crying, and I keep doing it until I fall asleep.

I wake up feeling something slithering on my body, I panic and push the water way from myself. I feel a jolt of pain through my whole body as I see a eel swim away from me. Electric eel, it was just cuddling me to get warm, I scared it off. I'm too excited to fall back asleep and head to the outside of the cave. It's still nighttime and I head to the surface to look at the moon, to offer respects to Tui. Even banished, I should show respect to the great spirits, they're my only help now.

The moon is half a circle in the sky, it reflects off the oceans and I feel a sudden sadness at how lonely it looks up there. But even the moon has the stars, I only have Naga. _And Asami._ A part of me adds. Asami! Oh, what am I going to do? I want to tell her about this right now, I feel so alone. I head to our island, I may as well, I can't sleep and she will meet me there after the sun rises. Unless she doesn't show. I shake myself for that thought, she will. She was sad to leave yesterday, unless she was sad she wasn't coming back. Stop it brain! I can't take that kind of negativity.

On my way there I encounter some dolphins playing in the pre-morning water. Great, these jerks, just the way I wanted to start the day off. As if sensing a opportunity to be a nuisance one of them breaks off and "playfully" slaps me with a fin. I angrily click back at him to leave me alone, I'm not in the mood. He backs off with an indignant squeal, dolphins suck. I make it the rest of the way to the island without incident.

I swim onto the beach and look out over the ocean as it's waves lap up over my body. I start crying again as I lay on the beach, thinking of dad and mom. I wake up with the sun burning down on me, I must have drifted off. I've never slept on land before, I feel dried out. I look around blearily in the light, it's only just started into morning, the sun rose over the crest of the island, waking me. I crawl back to the water and ready a ice spear, I need to hunt some breakfast.

I find a large enough fish quickly enough and eat it, thanking La for providing for me in my time of need. I take the remains and give them to the reef, so that others may make use of the bones and guts of the fish. So that nothing is wasted of La's gift to me. I make my way back to the island and wait for Asami to show up. My mind keeps wandering to last night, I keep seeing my cousins' faces as they silently mock me for my foolishness. I see my uncle's face as he solemnly banishes me from all the pods. I think about my father, and hope he's okay. I worry about my mother, and where she was last night.

I look up to see a familiar boat headed my way, I smile in spite of myself and swim to meet her. Asami is just weighing anker when she spots me, she smiles and I feel better just seeing her. "Hey Korra! You're here early, it's good to see you!" She sounds so cheerful it takes me out of my head for a moment and I manage a full smile.

"Hey there, I'm glad to see you." I break and start crying. Damn it! I didn't want to do this in front of her, haven't I cried enough?

Asami is halfway undressed when she sees me crying, "Korra, what's wrong? Did something happen to your family? Your pod?"

I shake my head and look up at her tears in my eyes, "They're fine, I hope." I feel my belly clench at the thought of my father. "I really want a hug right now." I say feeling weak. Asami looks sad and takes the rest of her dress off and jumps in the water, she takes me in her arms and I cry into her shoulder as my tail keeps us above water.

Asami is rubbing my back comfortingly, "What happened Korra? Why are you so sad?" She's truly concerned about me, I can hear it in her voice.

I pull back, tears still in my eyes, "My uncle banished me from my pod, from all pods." I manage through the knot in my throat. "I can never go back home, I'm alone Asami, I have nobody. No pod, no family. He took charge of the pod from dad, I don't even know if dad's still alive." I start crying again as Asami hugs me in sympathy.

Asami starts pulling us to the shore, I wave my hand and have the water drift us there. We slide onto the beach and she continues to hold me as I bawl into her shoulder. "Shh, It's okay Korra, you're not alone, I'm right here." I want to thank her but my throat is tight and I can't even click right now.

I calm down after a while and thank Asami through my tears, "Of course Korra, you're my friend." She says, like it would be impossible for her not to be here for me. "Why are you banished? What happened with your uncle?"

I look down, and sniffle. "The short answer is that I talked to you. It's forbidden, and Unalaq used the chance to claim nepotism and usurp my father. I don't even think he cares about me being with you, it was just a excuse to grab power." I get angry just thinking about it. "He always has envied my father's position, but I didn't think he'd go this far."

Asami looks at me in sympathy, she still has a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Korra, I wish I could do something to get you back to your family, like you never met me. I've ruined your life." She says sounding horrified, like this is somehow her fault.

I shake my head, "It's not your fault Asami. He was going to usurp my father one way or another, I see that now." I feel rage build in my chest. "I'm going to find a way to get back with my pod." A thought hits me, I wonder why I hadn't thought of it sooner. "I can challenge him for leadership of the pod. I'm the (former) chief's daughter, I have the right, even if I'm unwelcome."

Asami smiles at me, "That's great, so you think you can take charge of the pod back from your uncle?"

I look down again, "Not right now, I need to practice fighting using sea magic. This kind of thing is settled by using sea magic because it signifies the winner as the one more in tune with the spirits. And he is- was our pod's shaman, he knows our magic the best out of anyone."

I look back up and see Asami grin at me, "If that's the case I may have a way to give you an edge. Let's head to my boat and I can tell you all about it." Curious I follow her back to the boat and we climb on board. Asami rummages around, "Here we go, I found this in the library last night, it's about the spirits we used to worship thousands of years ago." She's holding a rectangle in her hands.

"What's that thing?" I ask confused as to what a rectangle has to do with spirits.

She laughs, "Oh, right. You wouldn't know, it's a book. If you can read the words inside, it tells you things. Like a story teller that never forgets and can live forever." It sounds like magic to me.

"That's great! And this one talks about spirits?" I see where Asami is going with this. "You think I can beseech the spirits of fire, earth and air to help me retake the pod from my uncle?"

She grins, "Something like that. It has their names in here, and even talks about a great spirit that ruled over all the others. Raava was her name, she was the spirit of order. Another one Vaatu, he also ruled over them, I'm not sure how that worked, I only found it last night and haven't read it all".

"It's worth a shot I guess." I look down sadly, thinking of dad again. I look up at Asami with tears in my eyes again. "What if it's not enough Asami? What if I can't ever go back to my old life?"

She puts the book back and sits next to me and takes me in her arms, I cry into her shoulder. "Then we'll find a way to give you a new life. I can't replace your pod, but I can be your friend." 

I pull back and smile just a little with tears in my eyes, looking at her comforting me. Even losing my old life will be worth it, if I can be with this compassionate, wonderful woman. "T-thank you Asami. I don't know what I'd be doing without you right now."

She smiles as she starts to cry too, we hold each other in our arms for what feels like hours, but could have been minutes. "Enough crying." I say with conviction. "I want to learn about how to commune with the earth spirits first. They may have a way for me to live on the land, if they will have me." I look down in worry.

"Are the spirits really that fickle?" Asami asks.

I shrug, "Our legends say they could be, the humans stopped revering them and lost their magic quickly. Also, I need to make sure I don't abandon Tui and La, they have been kind to me in my exile so far. It would be ungrateful to turn away from them."

Asami bites her lip, "About the war your people had with mine..." She is looking at me like I might break, I gesture for her to continue. "The book says the merfolk started it, that they were offended by us not revering the spirits and started attacking 'heretics'."

I look at her agast, "You mean it says we started the war? That doesn't make sense, why would we do that? We wanted to live in peace, humans started treating us like animals!"

Asami pats my shoulder and tries to calm me down, "Shh, I know that's what you were taught. But I don't think either story is the whole truth." She pauses as she gathers her thoughts. "People often lie about what a war is truly about, few people will fight just because one person wants to control more territory. But if he says the land is controlled by bad people who hate the 'abominations' that live among them, people will fight to end that injustice." She looks at me in sympathy, "We may never know the whole story Korra, it doesn't really matter who started the war. The result is that humans don't have magic and merfolk are so scared of the surface that they hide from the world for fear of being killed by it."

I try and calm down and think about what she's saying. She's right, it doesn't matter how it started. It was wrong no matter how it started, humans must have died horribly in the war too. I can picture our people using the ocean's water to drown whole ships, making the sailors suffocate. I shudder at the thought of such barbaric use of Tui and La's gift. Asami is looking at me with concern, "You're right, I never considered that my people would lie about what started the war. But like you said, it doesn't matter, the war was wrong either way."

She smiles sadly at me, "It was wrong. But we have a chance to change things for the better Korra." She points to her book, "In there is the key to returning the spirits and magic to my world, and maybe then your people and mine can start talking to each other again."

I picture children riding on waves made by merfolk, and adults trading stories and jewelry. I suddenly see my father's smile as he talks to a human about something, it brings tears to my eyes. "That would be amazing Asami. Do you think it could really happen? Bringing the spirits back?"

There's a twinkle in her eyes as she answers me, "You're a mermaid, you can make the water move just by waving your hand. I think anything is possible with you in this world." I smile at the sincere wonder and hope in her voice.

"KORRA!" Asami and I jolt at the shout, we look over the edge of the boat and I see my mother looking worried and nervous. She's swimming next to Naga, she must have led mom here. "Korra! Thank Tui and La you're safe!"

"Mom!" I yell and throw myself overboard, I take her into a tight hug, it feels wonderful to see her. I pull back from the hug with a sudden worry, "Mom you shouldn't be here. If uncle Unalaq finds out you talked to me..."

She waves her hand dismissively, "I don't care about what he'll do, you're my daughter. I need to tell you something important." She pauses looking grim, Naga rubs into me and I place a hand on her rough back. "Unalaq used magic I've never seen before. His eyes turned dark red and there was nothing your dad could do to stop him after that. It felt wrong, I don't know what he did but it wasn't normal."

Asami chimes in, "Dark red? Hold on a moment." She heads back into her boat.

Mom looks at me nervously, "So that's the human you've been talking with? She's very pretty."

I blush and am about to tell mom to stop teasing me when Asami comes back holding the book, "Did he look like this?" She points to a colored part of the book, it has a image of a red glowing... Thing, on it.

Mom looks puzzled, "A bit like that, not with the tendrils but his eyes were that glowing red yes. What is that? What do you know?" She says with suspicion.

Asami turns the book back to face her, "I don't know much, but it seems Unalaq called on the magic of Vaatu, king of the spirit world, and... 'god of darkness and strife'? That doesn't sound good."

Mom looks at me, "Pretty _and_ smart. I can see why you decided to talk to her."

"Moooom!" I groan as I blush. "Can we focus on uncle Unalaq attacking dad using dark magic from a ancient spirit of darkness? Speaking of dad, is he okay?"

Mom turns serious, "Sorry, sweety, I joke when I'm scared. He'll live, though I don't know what else may have happened with that magic Unalaq used. I'd be with him right now but he wanted me to tell you to stay away from the pod and to stay safe."

I roll my eyes, "Did he really think that would work? Asami's book there has the names of the spirits humans used to revere, if I can call on their aid I may be able to challenge uncle Unalaq for leadership based on superior spirit kinship."

Mom smiles at me, "No he didn't think it'd work." She shivers and frowns again, "But Korra, the power he showed when he fought your father... It was more powerful than anything I've ever seen. I don't know if any other spirit could match him, even many of them working together."

Asami clears her throat, "If I may cut in to this conversation...?" She pauses not knowing my mother's name.

"Senna." Mom says gesturing for her to continue.

"Senna, there is another spirit as powerful as Vaatu, if she still lives. Raava, queen of the spirit world and 'god of light and hope'. It sounds like these two were meant to balance each other in ancient times, but they got separated and created imbalance in the world."

Mom nods at her, "Unalaq certainly caused imbalance under the waves, with that magic he used."

I turn to Asami, "So you think I can ask this Raava for help to counteract Vaatu and my uncle?"

She shrugs, "It's the only plan I have. I hate to think what he plans to do using magic this powerful." 

Mom smiles at her, "You seem to be coping with the idea of magic well for someone who grew up in a world without it."

She smiles, and my heart flutters despite the seriousness of the situation. "I'm talking to two mermaids that can make water move with their hands. 'Magic' is a sensible conclusion to come to in the circumstances. That or somebody slipped me some amazing hallucinogens."

Mom laughs and looks back to me, "Smart, pretty, practical _and_ a sense of humor." She winks at me and I blush and sink myself down to my chin.

"Moooom!" I look over and see Asami is blushing too, is she blushing at the praise or something else?

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood sweety. The world as we know it could be coming to an end, and I would still find a way to embarrass you in front of your friends." She says with a smile before frowning. "I need to head back, Tonraq needs me to nurse him back to health." She turns to Asami, "You take care of my girl, Asami. She trusts you, so I'll trust you with her." Asami nods and mom dives down and heads back to the pod.

Asami looks at me, "I'm so sorry Korra, I can't imagine what this must be like for you."

I float back up, "It's not your fault Asami, my uncle has clearly gone power hungry." I shake my head, "I need to not make the same mistake. If I'm going to be learning new magics, I need to make sure I don't abuse them."

Asami nods in agreement, then looks over at Naga who has been passively swimming by me the whole time. "You're sure she won't eat me?" She says with a touch of fear in her voice, pointing at Naga.

I smile, "She's tame, she mostly eats fish. I can send her away if you want." I hope she doesn't ask me to.

She shakes her head, "It's fine, I'll just head right to the island and we can try and contact the earth spirits like you wanted."

Asami dives in and quickly swims to the island, I follow her and Naga stays out in the deep water. Once on shore I ask Asami how we proceed. "So what is the earth spirit's name?"

"The book says it was called 'Jian', which means 'solid' or 'unyielding'. You sure you want to start with that one?"

I nod, "The earth will be the most useful below the waves, I should learn from Jian first." I grab some sand from the beach and close my eyes, I focus on the earth in my hands. "Jian, spirit of the earth, I ask you for your aid in my time of need." I say in hopes of getting an answer. I open my eyes and look around.

Nothing. Either they won't listen to me, or I did it wrong, or they're dead, or... Anything! I throw the sand to the ground and fall back onto the beach in despair. "It's no good Asami, we have no idea how to contact these spirit even with the names."

I feel her take my hand in hers, I feel a sudden warmth through my whole body at the contact. "Korra, just because it didn't work on the first try doesn't mean you should stop trying." She's looking at me sadly.

I squeeze her hand and sit back up, continuing to hold onto her for comfort. "You're right, I shouldn't give up so easily, but I don't know what to do to get Jian's attention." I look over at her beautiful face. "Thank you for being here for me Asami, I really don't know what I'd be doing without you."

She pulls me into another hug, "Of course. We'll find a way through this, I'll be here if you need to talk, or, anything." I hear a lot in those last three words. I pull back and look at her eyes, I see something there. Something deep, something powerful.

I feel myself start to cry as I look at her, I see her eyes start to water too. I pull her back into a hug, I feel that sense of belonging again. This time it doesn't feel strange, I just accept it. No matter what, I belong with this woman, even if we can never share a world, I'll gladly meet her halfway like this. Coming to a union of land and sea... I almost slap myself with how foolish I was going about trying to talk to Jian.

I pull out of the hug, "Asami, you're a genius!" She looks at me confused. "I know how to talk to Jian!"

She is still bewildered, "I'm sorry? How am I a genius? Did you figure something out?"

I smile at her and pat her shoulder, "Something like that, I was trying to talk to Jian directly, but there's no reason for them to listen to me. I need to ask another spirit to help me find them."

She looks blank for a moment then her eyes light up, "You want to talk to Tui and La, see if they know this Jian." She smiles at me, my heart flutters at the sight, "I still don't see how that makes _me_ a genius, but I'm glad you've got a place to start."

I smile at her, "Yeah, I should be able to talk to them tonight."

She looks at me confused again, "Why can't you talk to them now? The ocean is right here."

"Tui isn't really a morning person." I joke with a smile, "After all she quite literally is the moon. La may talk, but he likes to be with Tui. It's best to talk to them together."

She laughs at my explanation, "They sound like a old married couple that doesn't like to leave the house."

I continue to smile, "They kind of are, the legends say that they fell in love when the world was young. That they are two of the oldest spirits in our world." I frown, "I'll need to meditate to talk to them in the moonlight tonight. I hate meditating, I can never concentrate."

Asami laughs, "Maybe I can stay with you tonight, help you concentrate." She winks at me.

Oh spirits of the ocean! That wink! I feel my face turn red, what's wrong with me! I shouldn't be thinking like that, she just wants to be friends. "N-no, that's fine. You're pretty." I blush further at what I just said, Asami just raises an eyebrow at me. "I-I m-mean you'd be pretty distracting!" That's not better Korra! I bury my face in my hands.

Asami pulls my hands away from my face, she smiles at me and kisses my cheek. I think my heart must be exploding, it's beating too fast to be healthy. "You're pretty pretty yourself." She says still holding my hands, her face next to mine. Our faces seem to be moving towards each other of their own accord, our lips are nearly touching. Then a wave comes up and covers us.

We sit stunned for a moment, then we both burst into laughter at the timing. "Hehehe, was that the ocean telling us to wait, Korra?"

I shake my head, and pull her into me and we kiss, my lips feel like they're on fire. My belly feels like it's going to fly into my chest. My heart feels like it's going to stop working if it keeps up this impossible pace. I pull away reluctantly, to breathe, Asami's eyes are closed and her face is locked in a smile. "I think the ocean said we should hurry up and get on with it."

She giggles and pulls me into another kiss, just as passionate as before. I forget about everything that's wrong with the world. This little island is perfect now, just the two of us. Our own world, nothing else exists. We keep kissing and rolling over each other, then Asami pins my tail between her legs stopping us from rolling. She smiles and leans down and continues our kisses, her tongue darts into my mouth like an eel. I reciprocate, our mouths doing a dance while our bodies burn as we rub against each other.

We're getting close to crossing yet another line, I push her back reluctantly. "This is nice Asami. Wonderful even. But if we don't stop we may go too far too fast. We just met, I don't want to rush too fast."

She sighs and lays her head on my chest, her wet hair tickling my skin. "You're right. I've never been this bold with anyone before." She raises her head to look up at me and smiles. "I'm happy just to be with you, anything else can wait. I want this to be special, you're special."

I start to cry at how sweet and understanding she's being, "You're the special one Asami." She starts to tear up too and puts her arms around me and we cuddle next to each other for a long time. I hold her and she holds me, we're just happy to be here for each other, and we're never letting go. The world can wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% happy with how fast this is moving, but it's going to slow down a bit as we continue on and Korra tries to learn new magics.


	6. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra makes contact with Tui and La, but is she ready to start taking on the tasks needed to save her world?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus! New chapter earlier than expected! :) Still working on the other fics, but thought you wouldn't mind another update on this.

Asami and I are cuddling on our island as we watch the sunset. I think back on all that happened in the past few days. The good; I met Asami, I learned I may be able to learn more magic, I hugged Asami, Dad was okay with me talking to Asami, I kissed Asami, Mom liked Asami, I kissed Asami some more. The bad; I got banished from all the merfolk pods, my father was injured by my uncle fighting for leadership, my uncle is apparently using dark magic from the dawn of time, I can't go back until I can match his power. Yep, that's about this size of it. It's not going to be easy to win my old life back, good thing I'm not a quitter.

I look over at Asami as the sun sets, giving her face a orange glow, making her skin look even more beautiful, as if that were possible. She looks over at me and my heart swells as she smiles at me, she leans in and we kiss. I close my eyes and melt into her, our tongues slide past each other as we continue to embrace. Asami pulls back in time for us to breathe, I open up my eyes and see a hungry look in her face. I know what she's feeling, but it's too soon to go further. It's not that I don't want to, but I'm nervous, I've never had sex before, even with my own people. Much less having sex with a human, I don't want to mess up and do something to make it awkward with our differing bodies. And I don't want to rush and ruin our friendship before it really starts.

Asami sighs and pulls us back onto the beach as the sun finishes it's decent into the waves. "I guess I have to leave soon." She says sounding sad and regretful.

I hug her closer to me, "I know, I don't want you to leave either. But we live in different worlds. I mean, where would I sleep?"

She laughs, "Well we _do_ have a large pool at home." She smiles trying to make a joke out of it, but her eyes tell how sad she is to leave me once again.

I smile at her joke, but can't bring myself to laugh at it, "Can you meet back here in the morning? I should have news by then, one way or another."

She nods automatically, "Father will start to wonder why I'm spending so much time on the boat. But he's busy making a international trade deal for the company, so he shouldn't have time to worry too much." It sounds like her father is busy a lot, yet also cares about Asami's well being. It's strange to me to hear of a parent caring so much, yet spending so much time away from their child.

I kiss her cheek, "That's good. At least we'll have tomorrow."

She sighs, then kisses my cheek, "Tomorrow." We swim out to her boat and she sets off back to shore, back to her world. I head back to mine, or what parts I'm not banished from. I find Naga swimming in circles, she swims up to me and nuzzles my belly. I laugh and we head out to find some dinner. We quickly find some fish for us to eat, Naga eats the parts I don't. Then I have her wander off as I go to commune with Tui and La.

I find a quiet place, near the reef. I steady my body, floating under the waves as I close my eyes and concentrate. I repeat a mantra in my head as I meditate, "Tui and La, great spirits of the ocean. Please hear my plea. The ocean is in danger, I need your aid." I repeat it over and over, making it become a background noise in my head as I drift off. Images float through my mind, I see a bright blue light. I don't know why, but it feels like it's looking at me. How can light look at something? Before I can ponder it further, it moves on. Then I feel a dark cold blackness seep into my mind. I shiver as it seems to touch me, I almost feel like I'm being violated by it, then just like the light it moves on.

I shiver again and open my eyes, I see a white fish with a black eye looking at me. Then it turns around and it's black with a white eye. Great spirits of the ocean, this is Tui and La! I bow my head, "Great spirits, thank you for agreeing to visit me. I am unworthy of the honor." And I find that unlike with my uncle, where I faked humility, I'm completely serious here. I do feel unworthy, I'm just a normal mermaid. I'm nobody special.

Tui and La seem to be contemplating me, they swim back and forth looking at me, studying me. "We heard your plea." The white Tui side says, before turning around and La continues. "We looked at the ocean and saw the eddies of a coming storm." They turn around again. "You were right to ask us for aid, and we can see from your mind what you require of us." "But do you know what this will entail?" "We suppose it matters not." "You are willing, you will suffice." "Or you will not."

They keep alternating who is talking, it's making me dizzy looking at them. They sense my discomfort and face me head on, half black, half white. Both voices continue at once, female and male, deep and high. "You ask to take on a large burden, it will test your resolve. You may come to wish you never asked for our aid, but you are the one we have chosen for this task."

I suddenly feel scared, nervous about what's going to happen, "I will do my best to return balance to the ocean." Is what I say, I pray that my best is enough to succeed.

Tui/La seems to smile at me, "You sought Jian during the day, holding the sands in your hand. Jian dislikes sand, though it is part of his domain." Tui/La looks sad for a moment, "To beseech Jian, you must be rooted on hard ground. The farther into the land the better." I feel a knot in my stomach as I see in my mind where this is likely headed. "We must change you, make you human. You will retain the ability to breathe in the water, all our other gifts will be yours. But your body must be changed, it must fit the needs of Jian, and eventually the others." They study my face, "We know we ask much of you. If you do not feel up to this task, simply say so now."

I think about what this will do to me. Am I committed to this? Can I really restore balance? It doesn't matter, I need to try. If I do nothing now I'd be allowing something dark to rule over me. I look up at Tui/La, "I will do my best, I will accept this task."

They seem to nod, "Hold still then, and we will reshape you. We will be gentle, but it will hurt." Then they start swimming in circles around me, spinning as they do so. Becoming a gray circle around me. I try and look at them in detail but I suddenly feel as if my tail is being ripped apart. I cry out in pain. The feeling keeps getting worse, I feel my fins changing shape becoming fat and blunt. I manage to look down and see my legs starting to form. The pain is still growing and I cry out again as my body continues to reshape itself. I feel my waist change shape, bones moving to new positions as my hips form. The pain is almost unbearable, I think I pass out for a moment. Then the pain stops and I start crying as it subsides. I look down and see my new body, the legs feel strange, and there is hair above and between the gap in them.

Tui/La looks sadly at me, "It is done, Korra. We are sorry it has to be this way, if you could have learned the other elements in our arms we would have held you. We thank you for your sacrifice, our daughter." They turn around, "Now you must go and learn from the other spirits. Your human friend has what she needs to set you on the path."

I still feel the echos of the pain from before, I try and swim to the island, and find my legs move wrong. I can't swim properly, the legs only have two joints, I'm used to swimming with my tail. The narrow feet, they barely move the water as I try and work out how to swim in this body. I give up on the legs and use my arms to pull me forward. I manage to get to the island after what feels like a eternity. I crawl onto the shore and lie on my back, tired from using my arms so much. 

I must have fallen asleep, because I wake up with the twilight before dawn around me. I look down and see that it wasn't a dream. I really did turn into a human last night, Tui and La have given me the task of saving the ocean from my uncle. I suppose I should try and stand, I bend my new knees and put my feet flat on the sand. I try and push my body up vertically, but my feet just slide in the sand and my legs end up straight again.

Well, that's a problem. I don't know how to stand up. How did Asami do it? I try and think back, but I can't remember the motions. Maybe she can teach me when she gets here. I continue to try, I even manage to get vertical at one point after pulling myself up using a rock on the island. Then I tried to walk forward and fell onto my face, that would have been embarrassing if anyone other than seagulls had seen it. I sigh and wait for Asami to arrive, the sun is well above the waves now.

I look in the direction of the land and see the spec that is her boat coming towards me. I smile at the thought of seeing her again. I frown, I wonder what she'll think of my new body. Soon enough she's weighing anker and I see her dive into the water and make her way to the island. As she gets near I call out, "Hello Asami! It's good to see you!"

It looks like she's going to reply then she spots my legs and she hurries to the land. She rushes forward and looks at me with a concerned face, "What happened Korra? How do you have legs? Did you lose your magic?"

I draw a globe of water from the ocean, "No, I'm fine. Tui and La, they gave me legs so I could walk on the land. It seems Jian prefers hard ground to loose sand. I need to be on a rock, if I'm going to speak to him."

She looks relieved to see I'm still able to use my sea magic, "Okay, that's good." She blushes as she looks at my legs, lingering more than once at the patch of hair between them. I move a hand to cover it, realizing I should learn to follow the human taboo. She looks back to my face and blushes harder, "I'm sorry, Korra. I shouldn't stare like that, lets go to my boat and get you some clothes." She offers me her hand to help me up, I take it and manage to stand.

I look at her as I shakily balance on my legs, "I may need help learning to walk, how do you make it look so easy?"

She puts her arm around me and I put mine around her, "Practice, Korra. Let's walk to the water together okay?" I nod, "One step at a time, lean on me as much as you need to." I stumble, but Asami holds me steady as we move into the water, then she lets me go and we swim to her boat. I follow behind her and look at how her legs wiggle as she swims. I mimic her and it's faster than just using my arms, but still feels alien to me. I don't dare try the ladder, I simply use my sea magic to lift myself aboard.

Asami hands me a towel to dry myself off, explaining that it's easier to put clothes on if you're dry. I dry myself as best I can, focusing on my legs and arms. Then she hands me a red dress, I pull it over my head. She giggles then pulls it around, "You put it on backwards." Then she helps me to my feet and pulls it the rest of the way down. "There, now you're the picture of modesty." She smiles as she looks at me, I'm holding onto her shoulders or I'd fall to the deck. I thought the sand was hard to stand on, the motion of the boat is next to impossible to keep balance with.

Asami sees my struggle and guides me to a seat, "Thank you Asami."

She smiles at me and kisses my forehead. "Of course, I can't imagine how hard this must be. Let's get you onto land, and we can teach you how to walk at my home."

I nod, "That sounds like a plan. I can't learn earth magic if I'm falling on my face."

She giggles at my humor, then sets about with all the things she needs to do to get the boat sailing the right way. I notice she hasn't put on clothes of her own, she's only wearing her bathing suit and sandals. I realize that she put her own dress on me, the one she wore before she took it off to swim. Soon enough we're on our way and Asami is at the helm, steering us to port. I lose myself in her face as she does everything she needs to keep the boat headed the right way. She is so pretty and kind.

Soon we're docking and she ties the boat up. "Wait here for a minute, I need to get something to help you to my car." I nod and she walks off, I fidget in my seat. Worried about being seen by so many humans, then I laugh at myself. I look just like them now, I shouldn't draw too much attention.

Asami comes back pushing a what looks like a chair with wheels, "Here we go, I got a wheelchair from the dockmaster. This way you don't have to walk the whole way to my car."

I smile in gratitude, "That's good, thank you." I say. Asami then hops down, she helps me to my feet and then helps me walk and climb up onto the dock. I sit down gratefully into the strange chair.

She leans down from behind me as she pushes me along, "Don't worry, Korra. We'll get you walking on your own soon enough." I smile and nod, I look around and see some people looking at us oddly, but they move on soon enough. I don't know if they're looking at me or Asami. Which they find weirder, the woman in the wheelchair, or the one pushing her in a swimsuit. Probably both.

Soon we're at a red... Thing. She moves to it's side and pulls on a silver handle, it opens up a bit and I see a seat inside it. She comes back and helps me up out of the chair, then guides me to the seat, taking care to duck my head below the roof of the thing. "I'll be right back Korra, I need to return the wheelchair."

I nod and she rolls the chair away. I start plucking at the dress, it's a bit tight on my chest. And it's so hot up here. How do humans stand this? I contemplate taking it off, but I don't want to embarrass Asami. Soon enough Asami is back and opens the other side of this thing and sits down, she grabs the circular thing with one hand and turns something else. I jump in my seat when a loud roar fills my ears. "What in the name of the spirits is that?!" I exclaim in worry, looking around.

Asami looks over at me confused, then laughs. "Oh, right. I didn't explain, this is a car Korra. It's a device for traveling very far very quickly. It makes that noise as part of it's function."

I sit back in the seat a little relieved, I thought some land beast was going to attack us. "I guess I still have a lot to learn about the surface."

Asami just smiles at me and pats my hand, "You'll be fine, you're a smart woman. You need to buckle up before we head out. " She reaches over and grabs a strap from the side of the car and pulls it over me, I hear a click and she lets it go. It pulls tight over my chest, going between my breasts, slightly uncomfortably. I notice another strap came with it, it goes over my lap and is less uncomfortable.

I look over at Asami, "Is this necessary? It's uncomfortable."

She frowns at me, "I know you're probably overwhelmed by everything Korra, but trust me, wearing that could save your life. If we crash while we're at top speed that will keep you from flying through the glass."

I look at her like she's crazy, how fast does this thing go? But she's looking at me with deadly seriousness. "Okay, I'll wear the stupid strap, even if it presses on my breasts worse than this dress."

She laughs, "Wait until you try wearing a bra, that will teach you all you need to know about stupid human clothes." With that she does something and we head off, the beast of a device roars as she guides it with the wheel, like her boat. Soon we're off, moving past buildings before I really get a chance to look at them. There is so much to learn up here. So many new things to see and do. But I should try and learn to walk without aid first, that will be very important.

Soon we're past the buildings and I see trees everywhere. I've seen them on the coastline before, but never so many and for so far in the distance. I look around in wonder at all the sights I'm seeing, trying to commit them to memory. Then Asami guides the "car" thing down a side path of some kind, Asami says it's a driveway. I see a large building ahead, she says it's her home. Surely a pod could survive in a place so large? Why do two people and some servants need a place that large? I guess they'll have room for me at least.

I suddenly get nervous, "Asami, how are you going to explain me to your father? I mean you can't very well tell him I'm a mermaid."

Asami sighs as she guides this beast into a opening, then she shuts it up and I relax into the sudden silence. "I don't know Korra, I just knew I had to bring you here. It's not safe for a young woman who can't walk, out on the street. I'll think of something, in the mean time lets get you to your room and into some clothes you may like better."

I nod, then she comes around to my side and helps me out of the car. I start trying to walk without leaning on her too much, and I find my balance is better on this hard flat surface we're on. She only has to help me a few times as I stumble when I shift my weight wrong. She takes me through her home, I almost lose balance as I try and look around at everything on display. There are pictures and stone heads, flowers and more besides. Then she takes me up a long bunch of steps, I have to take them slowly, I lean forward to not fall backward, I imagine that would hurt.

Once up the steps she pulls at a door and it opens up into a room, inside I see many things that I will have to learn the function of. She guides me to a rectangular thing and helps me lay down on it. It's soft and feels amazing, I sigh as I relax into it's warm embrace. "What is this amazing thing?!" I say as I wiggle into it more.

Asami giggles, "It's a bed, it's for sleeping in, I'm glad you like it." 

I look over at her smiling at me, "I love it! So soft and warm! And you said you didn't have magic!" I wink at her and her cheeks glow a bit. Then she moves to another door and opens it.

She hums, "We should have something in here that will fit you, some sweatpants and a t-shirt or something." She rummages around and I hear the sound of metal on metal as she moves things around. I lay back and enjoy this bed thing for all it's worth. Soon she comes up next to me, holding some clothes. "Here we go, I got you some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. I'll go over bras later, these should do for now." I smile and take the things from her, saying thanks.

I pull the tight dress over my head, Asami quickly turns around. I am confused for a second, then laugh. "Asami, You've seen me naked before." I throw the dress at her and she laughs and pulls it over her own head. I realize she may have been breaking her own taboo walking around in just a swimsuit.

She turns around and blushes, I still haven't put on the new clothes. "Korra, I know I've seen you naked. It's just not proper for me to see you like this." She says as she covers her eyes and turns around again. 

I sigh and pull the shirt thing on. It's not as tight and I can feel my breasts move freely below the cloth. I awkwardly pull the pants on, after spending some time working out that both legs need to go in at once. I tap her on the shoulder, "You can turn around now, I'm covered in useless bits of cloth."

She giggles at me sarcasm, "Korra, if you're going to be around humans you need to dress like us." She pauses for a second. "Well I guess you don't _have_ to, but you might draw some stares. And then the police would arrest you. You don't want that, trust me."

I laugh at her joke then ask, "What are police? Some kind of anti-nudity regulators?"

She looks like she's about to make a sarcastic joke, then sees that I'm honestly asking and pauses. "Oh my. You may need more teaching than I thought." She says it with some worry in her voice. "But let's focus on getting you walking without help first." I nod and sit on the edge of the bed, I start to stand up and lose my balance as I do so. Asami catches me and helps me the rest of the way up. "It's okay, learning to walk is harder than learning to swim."

I laugh, still holding onto her arms, "You're not kidding. So what's the plan for me learning here?" I ask, determined to learn as fast as possible.

She smiles at me and I feel heat rise to my face, given how close we are to each other. I push the feeling aside, I need to focus on learning to walk. "Well, how about you put your right hand on my shoulder, then we'll walk slowly. Try and not use me for balance unless you start to fall."

I nod and we start walking, I stumble at first, but a few minutes later I'm walking without feeling like I'm leaning on Asami at all. "I'm walking Asami!" I laugh as I start moving faster next to her, she giggles at my excitement.

"That's good Korra. Now you need to try to do it by yourself." She notices my worried frown. "Don't worry, I'll be right here to catch you. But I think you can do this."

I nod, and ready myself. I let go of her shoulder and stand on my own, I take the first step. I start to stumble, but I catch myself, I stand back upright. I take another step, one more, two, three, then I find a rhythm and start walking around the room on my own for the first time. I laugh and tears form in my eyes, I look at Asami, she's looking at me and I see she's crying too. I walk over to her and take her into a hug, then I look at her face and see her smiling at me. I'm about to lean into her when I hear a gasp from the doorway. We both jump back from each other and I almost stumble as I turn around.

There's a woman in a black and white dress standing in the doorway. She looks embarrassed, "I'm sorry miss Sato, I didn't know you were in here! Or that you had company!"

Asami seems to have recovered and sounds calm when she answers the woman (a maid I think they're called, remembering earlier talks with Asami), "It's fine Nariko, I was just showing my friend Korra her room. She's going to be staying with us for awhile, while she's in town."

Nariko seems surprised, but smiles quickly and genuinely, "That's wonderful to hear miss Sato." She turns to me, "It's nice to meet you miss...?" I don't understand the question she's implying, she knows my name.

Asami cuts in, "Waters, Korra Waters. Sorry she's being quiet Nariko, she's a bit jet lagged from her trip here." Asami pats my shoulder comfortingly, the maid was asking for my second name, like "Sato" is for Asami. Good thing Asami is a fast thinker.

The maid nods and smiles again, "Of course, I'll let you rest. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything miss Waters." I smile and bid her good day.

I look over at Asami after Nariko leaves, "'Waters' huh? A bit on the nose don't you think?" I wink at her and am rewarded with a blush and a light slap on the arm.

She laughs, "It was that or Ocean, I had to come up with something. It would be very odd for you to not have a last name."

I smile and pat her shoulder, "It's fine, it'll be easy enough to remember at least."

She smiles back at me, "There is that." She looks me up and down. "We need to do something more permanent about your clothes, and you need shoes too." She thinks for a moment then smiles. "I have just the place to go, and you'll get to practice walking too."

I raise an eyebrow, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see. You'll love it, you may even learn to like clothes afterwords." I look at her doubtfully but I can see she won't take no for an answer, as she hands me her sandals and says she'll be back in a moment, that she needs to get changed. I take the time alone to practice walking in the sandals (after putting them on sitting in the bed). I wonder where Asami is taking me next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this one. Things are going to continue to be mundane for a while, while Korra learns how to human.


	7. Getting Dressed and Going Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami takes Korra to a clothing boutique, then dinner.

Asami insisted I put on some more clothes under the pants before we left. She says they're called "panties" and they aren't bad, as such. They're just needless, at least she gave up on having me wear that horrible bra thing. I look at her driving the car, and my heart feels like it's going to break. She's so beautiful, she's wearing a complicated outfit, vest, shirt, pants, long boots, something tucked into the vest, and that's just what I know about it. For all I know she has even more clothes beneath the ones I can see. Humans are weird.

"So where are we headed?" I finally ask again, tenth time's the charm.

Asami giggles and I feel heat rise to my cheeks again, "Okay, I'll tell you, little miss impatient." She looks at me for a split second and winks at me, oh ocean spirits! I'm falling hard for her. "We're headed to a boutique, it's a fancy clothing store. I have a friend who works there, it's her family's business. The Beifongs."

So this is about clothes again, I sigh, "I'm not going to have to wear worse stuff than this am I?" I ask gesturing to my shirt and pants.

Asami smiles and shakes her head, "No, the stuff they sell is top of the line. Thrust me, there will be something there that you'll like wearing."

I look at her doubtfully but stay quiet for the rest of the journey. Asami parks the car on the side of the road and comes around to my door and helps me out. I take her hand in mine, I don't think I need the support, but I feel safer walking with her holding my hand. And as a bonus her hand feels soft and warm, and I get tingles thinking about it. We head into a building that has writing above the door and some manakins with clothes on them in the windows. "What did the writing say?" I ask.

Asami looks at me blankly for a second, then smiles. "Right, you can't read. It's the name of this store, 'The Blooming Orchid'. An orchid is a kind of flower, the name is suppose to give a feeling of pretty flowers in the spring time." Asami is blushing for some reason.

"Why are you blushing?" I decide to just ask, curious why a flower would make her blush.

"Well..." Asami blushes a little harder and I find it adorable, "The orchid is also sometimes used as a symbol for a woman's..." She leans in close to my ear, making my cheeks grow hot at the proximity, "vagina."

I laugh, "Is that all? So it's a double en tendre? It's about flowers and feminity?"

Asami seems to relax, "Yes, exactly. I think it's a bit heavy handed personally, but that's marketing for you."

We come to a desk where a cute woman with short black hair, and wearing a pretty green dress, is looking at some papers. She looks up and smiles when she see's Asami. "Asami! It's good to see you! What brings you here?"

Asami smiles, "It's good to see you too Opal. I'm here with a fashion emergency. " She squeezes my hand and smiles over at me, "Korra here needs some better clothes, but she's picky and won't go for just anything."

Opal smiles at me and comes around the desk and takes me from Asami's hand and leads me away as she excitedly talks, "I love a challenge! We'll start off easy, just look around and point out any clothes that you think are pretty or cool or whatever. There is no wrong answer in fashion! If you like how you look, then everyone else can stuff it!" I look back over my shoulder and see Asami smiling and telling me to have fun.

I walk behind Opal bewildered, looking at suits, pants, shirts, skirts, and dresses of various styles. Nothing looks good to me, I'd still rather be naked. I don't say that, Opal sells clothes, she'd be insulted. I look around and spot a manakin with a dress that looks pretty to me, it's blue with a pattern of gold in little swirls on it. I point to it, "I like that one." I say as Opal is in mid rant about something or other. She smiles and takes me closer.

She goes to a nearby rack and grabs an identical one and holds it up in front of me. "Hmm, good choice Korra! I think this will look great on you!" She then drags me to a set of doors and we head inside, she hangs the dress on a hook and says she can't wait to see me in it. I smile and thank her as she closes the door. I sit down and take off my pants and shirt, and then ponder how to wear the dress. I try and remember how the manakin wore it, I pull it over my head and hold it up on my chest. There is a mirror in the room, and I admit the dress does look pretty, maybe this won't be so bad. I remember that the manakin had it tied behind it's neck. I do my best and it seems to be holding in place just fine.

I look at myself in the mirror again, the dress comes down to my shins and is sleeveless, I like that I can see my strong arms in it. The top of it gently holds my breasts without squeezing them. And I turn around to see what it looks like on the back, and find that it only covers my lower back, letting my strong shoulders and back muscles show. I smile, now _this_ I can feel fine wearing. I take a deep breath and head out of the room in my new dress.

Opal is standing there and she grins when she sees me wearing it. "Oh! I think we have a winner!" She walks around me, looking at the dress. She stops behind me and re-ties the strap behind my neck. "Sorry, I didn't explain how to tie it up here. I keep forgetting that not everyone knows how all these clothes work. There we go! Let's show Asami!"

With that she drags me through the store again and I find myself smiling at how direct Opal is. We come around a rack of clothes and Asami looks up and I see a blush form on her cheeks when she sees me. I turn around in a slow circle and the dress hugs my legs, but doesn't hinder them, I _really_ like this dress. "What do you think?" I ask suddenly nervous.

Asami recovers herself, "You look beautiful Korra. I wasn't expecting you to go for a dress like that. But it suits you."

I blush at her compliment and I see Opal looking back and forth from the two of us. Then she smiles and jumps up and down excitedly, "You didn't tell me Korra was your girlfriend Asami! You should have said something!" 

I see Asami blush harder at it being so obvious that we're romantically involved. "Shh! It only just happened in the past few days! Don't make a big deal about it please." Asami pleads as Opal calms down.

She is still smiling as she pats Asami's shoulder, "Sorry sweety, I just think it's great that you finally broke out of your shell a bit. I haven't seen you this flustered in years."

Asami rolls her eyes at her friend, and gives me a apologetic look, "It's fine Opal, just keep it quiet for now. I'm just not ready to tell everyone yet."

Opal runs her fingers over her mouth, "My lips are sealed." She looks back to me, "Now let's see if we can do something about your shoes, I like the sandals, but we can add some color down there I think."

Opal drags me away again and Asami follows us this time as I'm led past row after row of shoes. Goodness, I had no idea humans took clothing this seriously. Opal takes us to a area with lots of sandals, she looks at me feet, then grabs a few pairs of sandals and has me sit down on a bench. We go through several sets of sandals before finding one she says works with the new dress. She then has me stand up and leads me to a full mirror and I see a beautiful dark skinned human smiling back at me. I start to tear up a bit, and Opal looks worried, then she sees my smile and moves out of the way and lets Asami stand next to me.

I look over at Asami and she's smiling with teary eyes too. She takes my hand in hers, I lean my head on her shoulder, and we look at the smiling couple in the mirror for a while. I hear a high pitched sound coming from Opal and look over in worry, only to see her holding her hands over her mouth, which is smiling so wide I can see her cheeks sticking out from behind her hands. "You two are adorable!" She exclaims, I smile at how excited she is for Asami, for us. "You have to tell people you're a couple! I don't think I can keep this a secret for more than today!"

Asami rolls her eyes at her friend and smiles, "Okay, yes I won't be hiding it after I tell my dad. He needs to hear it from me, not the rumor mill okay?"

Opal sighs, "Okay..." She smiles, "Now lets find some more outfits for you Korra. I like the blue look on you, it brings out your eyes. But let's see if we can work with your skin tone too, maybe adding in some browns and reds."

I lose track of time as we go from rack to rack, I end up with a dozen dresses and six pairs of sandals. The colors ranging from blue to brown, with a touch of red here and there. Asami finds it interesting for some reason that I seem to only like the dresses, as she took me for the type to wear pants. Opal laughs as Asami is paying for the clothes, "Asami, in my years working here, I know one thing you should never do is assume what somebody wants to wear. That's why I let Korra pick out her first outfit, if I had done it she'd have been wearing something like you are (although you rock a suit vest) and maybe be uncomfortable. Now, she's wearing a pretty blue dress and can't stop smiling." 

It's true, I haven't stopped smiling since holding hands with Asami in the mirror. Asami smiles over at me as she holds my hand, "You're right Opal, that's why I brought her to you. I knew you'd be able to make her comfortable in fancier clothes than she's used to."

I almost laugh at the hidden joke, "fancier" indeed. Opal misses it and just sighs as she looks at us holding hands, "You two are clearly great together. I'm glad you found each other."

I look over at Asami and can't resist kissing her cheek, "So am I Opal. Thank you for helping me so much today."

She smiles at me, "It's no problem, I always like helping people find a way to express themselves. That's the magic that the right clothes can bring. You came in a random person in sweatpants. Now you're Korra, the woman in a blue dress smiling and showing everyone who she is."

I never thought I'd think of clothes as freeing. But hearing Opal talk, it's like I'm sending a message by wearing this dress. I can show people things about myself, all without saying a word. It's kind of like magic, like she says. I start tearing up thinking about what a wonderful gift Opal and Asami have given me. It's a gift of love, of knowledge, and it's special in other ways all its own. I take Opal into a hug and thank her again, I can feel her smile against my neck as she says it was her privilege.

Now we're walking out of the shop, me and Asami, with bags of clothes and boxes of shoes. She opens the back door of her car and we put the stuff in the back. I'm buckling into the seat and Asami turns to me, and pulls me into a kiss. I melt into her as her lips touch mine. Then my stomach growls at me, I haven't eaten since before I lost my tail. We laugh at the timing and Asami says she knows just the place to fix that.

As she's driving us I take the time to really look at what Asami is wearing. No longer thinking of her clothes as pointless bits of cloth, I wonder what they mean to her, what they say about who she is. She's wearing a vest, and pants, with a red piece of cloth tied around her neck and tucked into the front of the vest. It suits her, like the dress does for me, it seems to say that she's in control of herself. That she's in charge and looks good doing it.

I think about what people will think of what I'm wearing. They'll see a woman in a blue dress, happy to show her skin, confident in her body. Strong yet beautiful and flowing, like the ocean. I smile, that's me, I am strong, I am beautiful and I will learn from the spirits of this world. I can't forget my task, I was sent to the surface by Tui and La. I must find Jian and learn from him. Then I must learn from the other spirits of legend, and if she still lives I must seek the aid of Raava. The one that can match Vaatu, can restore balance if united again.

I get taken out of my thoughts as Asami parks us next to a building of some kind, lots of people in pretty clothes are heading in and out. Asami takes my hand and leads me in, the people that seem to guard the door let us in straight away and we're led to a table and some pages are handed to us. I blush at not being able to read, Asami covers for me and asks them to bring stuff without looking at hers. I smile in gratitude, she takes my hand in hers and smiles reassuringly, "It's okay Korra, they know me and my family here. Trust me, the food is wonderful."

I smile back at her, "I'm sure it will be." I frown thinking of family and food, I miss my pod, I miss my family, Naga, everything under the waves is lost to me until I can learn the other magics. I start tearing up and Asami scoots along the bench and hugs me close.

Asami is rubbing my back, I welcome her warm hands and kind words as she comforts me. I calm down soon and she takes a cloth from the table and wipes my eyes, she kisses my cheek. I smile at how kind and generous she's been to me. We sit holding each others hands between us until the food arrives. I've never seen food arranged this way before. It's made up of so many different parts, I don't even recognize half of the things before me.

My body however, seems to know what's going on and my belly rumbles again. Asami shows me how to use the metal things in front of us to stab, cut, and eat the food. I take my first bite of some kind of meat, and it's glorious. There are so many flavors that I've never tasted before, all vying for attention in my mouth. I moan in pleasure at the taste and start taking more bites. Asami is giggling at my enthusiasm, she gently takes my hand and asks me to slow down. She wants me to enjoy each bite. I roll my eyes and start taking bites only after I've swallowed the last one.

Before I know it the plates are cleaned of food and my belly feels like it's going to burst. I lean back and sigh, closing my eyes and relaxing into the seat, with my hands on my belly. My bliss is interrupted by a need to pee. I open my eyes in a panic, it's not big deal to pee when I'm in the ocean, but how do the humans do it? With these clothes on they'd be soaked and smelly instantly. I look over at Asami and she seems to read my mind, she takes my hand and takes me to a room with a sign outside with the image of a person in a dress on it. Once inside she shows me something she calls a toilet, she says I can pee into that.

I step into the smaller room in a room and pull my panties down and pull my dress up and sit on the toilet-thing in time to feel a sudden release and relief. Asami tells me to be sure to clean up my bits with the white paper. Who knew going to pee could be such a hassle? I need to re-rethink my position on wearing clothes again. Once cleaned I head back out and Asami blushes then shows me how to flush the toilet. Ocean spirits, this whole thing is complicated!

Asami then shows me how to wash my hands in the sinks and we head back to our table. Having just peed I take a big drink of the water at the table. It's weird not having water all around me, ready to drink all the time. And this water is so bland, it lacks so much of what I'm used to in water when I drink it. But then the food more than made up for that. Asami pays the waiter and we head back out to the car, holding hands. I see and hear people looking and talking about us, I blush at the attention. I look over at Asami and she seems nervous too, but she's trying to hide it. Maybe holding hands in public like this is awkward for her. "Asami, did you want to not hold my hand? It's okay if you're uncomfortable with it."

She snaps out of whatever she was thinking and smiles at me, she squeezes my hand tighter. "No, it's fine Korra. I'm just worried that with us being in public like this, that dad might hear about us before I tell him."

I can understand that, it was rough having dad come upon me and Asami, and we hadn't kissed yet. I raise her hand to my mouth and kiss it, "I understand Asami." An idea strikes me. "Let's go tell your father right now, before anyone can tell him without you."

She smiles at me and looks at her wrist, where she's wearing a band of leather with a circle of metal and glass. She says it's a "watch", that it tells the wearer what time it is. Which is silly, just look at the sun or moon stupid! "It's seven o'clock now." She says looking at me seriously, "He should be home soon. You're right, I just need to tell him."

She looks nervous and I hold her hand tighter as we get closer to the car. I get into my side and she gets into hers. She starts the car and looks even paler than usual, her skin losing all of it's yellow tones. She has a haunted look on her face. I hope this goes well, I don't want Asami to lose her home, like I did mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this one done fairly quickly, shipper!Opal is amazing! We'll have to see how Hiroshi takes the news next time. ;)


	8. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami needs to tell her father about her relationship with Korra. But how will he react?

I keep looking at Asami as we head back to her home, her knuckles have gone white from gripping the wheel so hard. I place a hand on her shoulder and she relaxes ever so slightly, I worry, wondering why she's so nervous about talking to her father. I gather that he treats her well, and that he loves her. But I still worry about how much time he seems to spend away from her, why that is, and what it could mean for today. I start to get nervous, wondering how he'll react to _me_. I feel selfish just for thinking about it, as Asami is clearly in distress. Soon we're pulling into the garage thing and she turns the car off.

She sits there holding the wheel and looking at the images in her head. I gently take her hand in mine and kiss the back of it. She snaps out of her worst case scenario and smiles at me, I smile back and we get out of the car. I take her hand as we walk inside, her grip on me is hard with her nervousness. I rub my thumb over her hand to try and calm her down, it is mildly effective and she loosens her grip slightly. She takes us through the building, down halls and around corners. Then I see some double doors ahead, and she stops in front of them, looking nervous.

I let go of her hand and start rubbing her back, and looking at her face. She turns to me and relaxes as she smiles at me, "Thank you Korra, I don't know why I'm this worried. Dad knows I'm bi (romantically attracted to men and women), but I've never had a girlfriend before. I'm worried about how he'll take the news."

I smile and take her hand in my free one, "It's okay Asami, I'll be right here with you. For whatever you need."

She pulls me into a hug and kisses my cheek, I grow warm at the contact. She sighs and nervously pats her clothes, then she knocks on the doors. A calm male voice says we can come in. Asami opens the doors and I follow in behind her, just being here for her. I see Asami's father for the first time, he's sitting down behind a desk, there's a blue light shining on his face from a square thing in front of him. I look at his features, and I see little bits and pieces that remind me of Asami, but not much. His hair is going gray at his temples and he has a groomed beard. He looks up from the square thing and sees the look on Asami's face, then he looks at me, becomes puzzled and closes the square thing leaving just the yellow light of the "bulbs" in the room.

Asami nervously closes her hands and starts talking before Hiroshi can say anything, "Dad I have something important to tell you." She looks over at me and I smile encouragingly at her, "Dad, I'd like you to meet Korra Waters, my girlfriend."

I see her shoulders tense up at having said the thing she dreads the reaction from. I move forward and rest my hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her. Hiroshi is unreadable to me, and now I see more resemblance to his daughter, it's in the way he doesn't show anything unless you know what to look for. He stands up and walks around the desk, I am intimidated by him and back away from Asami under his gaze. He reaches out and pulls Asami into a hug and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Asami starts crying in relief and hugs her father back. "Shh, Asami, I love you. I always say that don't I?" He's rubbing her back and he looks at me with a smile, "I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't understand when you came out to me in highschool. I love you Asami, I just worry about what the press will do to you." His face saddens as he is still holding his daughter, "You weren't around when they found out that your mother had a ex girlfriend. They were vultures, it was sickening. I didn't want that for you. I know the world is different now, but you will still get some negative coverage from the press. I wanted you to never have to deal with that."

Asami pulls back and I see shock in her face, "Mom was bi too? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

He sighs and steps back, "I didn't tell you because the memories were still hard for me to think about. And then you never dated a woman, so it didn't occur to me to tell you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hide that from you."

She starts tearing up again and pulls him into a hug, I smile and start crying a little too. It's wonderful to see that Hiroshi is being supportive, it reminds me of my own father and I feel my belly clench. I want to feel Asami's arms comforting me, but feel selfish for thinking so. I turn away from them instead and try to control myself. I suddenly feel a strong hand on my shoulder and turn to see Hiroshi with his other arm around Asami looking at me. They're both smiling, "Are you okay Korra?" Asami asks through her own tears of relief and repressed emotion.

I nod my head, "I'm fine, I just got reminded of my father looking at you both." Asami's face becomes more sympathetic and she takes my hand in her free one.

Hiroshi looks a bit confused, "What's going on with your father Korra?" He asks.

"He got hurt bad recently, but he's too far for me to visit. So I haven't been able to see him, they say he'll be fine, but it's hard being away from him right now." That's close enough to the truth that it doesn't feel like a lie, yet it keeps my origins a secret still. Now is not the time to talk about how magic and merfolk are real, this is about Asami right now, not me.

He nods in understanding, "If there's anything we can do to help, don't hesitate to ask." He smiles, "But right now I want to focus on happier things. How did you two meet?"

Asami smiles, and I panic a little, but Asami jumps in and answers for me. "We met on the beach, and we felt a connection right away. Then we talked later at the docks, went on some boat rides..." She smiles bigger and looks up at her father, "It was all very magical and romantic." Great spirits Asami! You're way too good at hiding things without hiding them.

He laughs, "Sounds like it, I'm happy for you both." He looks sad suddenly. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay and hear more about it, I have a international trade deal to finalize." Asami just nods her head sadly and kisses his cheek.

Soon we're walking hand in hand to a room with long seats and Asami pulls me down next to her and kisses me as I melt into her arms. I have to pull back to breathe and I look at her smiling face, "What was that for?" I ask smiling at her.

She shrugs, "Because you're amazing, and wonderful, and I'm so happy I can be with you." Then she smiles and pushes me back onto the seat and I fall backwards, landing on the cushions.

I giggle into her mouth and kiss her back just as hard. I like this aggressively kissing Asami, she's fun! I hear a familiar gasp and we look at each others eyes and I see Asami go white again, I look over at Nariko. "Hello, Nariko. It's good to see you again!" I say, as Asami blushes and hides her face in my shoulder.

The maid just stands there in shock at what she's seeing. Then she blushes and starts giggling uncontrollably, her hands on her mouth. "It all makes sense now!" She manages between breaths.

Asami raises her head and looks surprised, "You're okay with this?" Asami asks, sounding just as shocked as she looks.

Nariko rolls her eyes, "Of course I am! My best friend in highschool is happily married to his husband. I'm just surprised is all."

Asami laughs, she looks back down at me and kisses my forehead before sitting back up again. I sit up too and straighten my dress, my right breast was about to fall out of it. Not a problem for me, but it may have made this more awkward. Asami starts talking, "I'm glad you're okay with this." She says sounding grateful, "I know we employ you, but I think of you as a friend Nariko."

She smiles, "I do too Asami, I'm glad you're happy with Korra. This explains why you've been so happy lately. That's what I was saying before." 

I feel myself smiling, but I wonder what Asami was like before she met me. Everyone who knows her seems to think she's quiet and reserved. I've never met that Asami, I just know happy, flirty, amazingly smart, and beautiful Asami. I take her hand in mine and relish in the idea of her being mine, and me being hers. "I'm happy I'm with her too." I say, "She's wonderful." That's too small a word for what she is, I try and fill the gap of language with my eyes, looking into her soul.

Nariko giggles behind us again, I look over and see her struggling to breathe. She waves her hands, "I'm sorry, you're just so adorable together. It's amazing." She sighs and manages to control herself. "I'll leave you alone, to get comfortable." She winks as she turns and leaves.

Asami looks at me and I see that hunger in her eyes again, like when we were on the beach before I changed. I feel it too. Strongly. But I'm not ready, I have a new body, a mission from the spirits, and a psychotic uncle trying to upset the balance of the world. I sigh and lean into her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Asami. I'm not ready for more yet."

She lifts my head and kisses me on the cheek, "It's okay Korra, I understand. Never feel you need to do something for me. I want you to be with me because that's what you want. I don't want to rush this either."

I smile in gratitude at her understanding. We sit and talk for a few hours, she explains more things to me about living in the human world. She even shows me some written words to help me get around. I look out the window and see the moon, glowing behind a cloud. I say a silent prayer to Tui, and ask for forgiveness for taking so long. I feel a pulse of something, it feels like love and understanding. I smile, they knew it would take time to get used to the legs.

Asami yawns into her hand and looks at her watch, she sighs and says it's bedtime. She takes me to my room and kisses me goodnight. I kiss her back and close the door. I strip out of the clothes and crawl into the bed, I pull the blanket things over myself and fall asleep quickly.

 _"You think you can stop me child of water?"_ I sit up and see nothing but blackness and a giant red glowing eye in front of me. I try and scream but no sound comes out. _"I am older than the planet you live on! I am the entropy of stars, you are a weak, small thing."_ I am frozen in fear, I feel the cold blackness from my earlier meditations all around me now, touching me. It feels like he's inside me, looking at my body and soul. I want to vomit at the violation. How can uncle Unalaq tolerate using magics from this source? 

Vaatu laughs, _"He is strong in ways I can use. He desires power, and power he shall have. Go ahead and learn your silly tiny magics, it will be meaningless. Raava has long since turned a blind eye to humans, even the merfolk. You will get no help from her, so your quest is doomed. It amuses me to watch you try and stop me."_

I feel him leave me and I shiver as the blackness leaves. I wake up sweating in the sheets, but I feel like I'm freezing. What have I gotten myself into? I look outside and see it's still night outside. I walk over to the window and see the moon close to the horizon, and I cry as I ask her for the strength to stay on my mission. I feel a warm pulse and it helps a little. I head back to bed, wrapping the blankets tightly around myself. I try and shake the feeling of cold from my body, but it's in my soul, I hope I never meet Vaatu again. But I know I will, and soon, I have to fight him, even if it's hopeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was intense, I tried to channel as many "coming out" worries and fears I've heard. And some of my own (less extreme in our society's) "coming outs" as well. I hope I did it a small justice in Asami's worry in this chapter. I however didn't want to have Hiroshi be a terrible father in this AU, so he's totally fine and supportive. :)
> 
> As for Vaatu making himself known to Korra, that was something I felt was needed to get us back on track as far as the "plot" goes. Korra's been having fun hanging out with her new GF, but the world still needs saving.


	9. Earth Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tries to overcome Vaatu's visit as she sets out to learn earth magic from Jian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus. I did some Korrasami week prompts and that took more energy from me than I thought it would.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

I wake up feeling gross, sticky and smelly. Asami said that the bathroom off to the side of my room is where I can go to clean myself in the tub/shower. I decide to do some push ups first, to get my body woken up and to keep in shape. I'd do other exercises, but I don't know what to do with legs in that way, so push ups it is. Soon I'm covered in fresh sweat and feeling better, I head to the bathroom and try and work out how this is going to work.

She said to use the round handle things to make the water come out. I shrug and turn them both, and water comes gushing out of the thing and I almost jump back in surprise. I turn them back the other way and the water stops. Okay, so not that far, too much water. I try again, only turning them a little, it's more controlled, I put my hand in the stream and the water feels lukewarm. Asami said that one of the handles released hot water and the other one did cold. I assume the red one is hot, I turn it more on and the water feels much warmer, exactly what I need after last night's visit. I see the "plug" she was talking about and put it in the drain, the tub starts filling up. 

I turn around and look at myself in the mirror. I look as tired as I feel, and my hair is a mess, it's all dry and gross looking. I guess I can fix that at least, I turn around and see the tub is nearly full and I shut the water off and slide into it. I sigh in pleasure as my body is immersed in the water. It's been far too long since I left the ocean. I use my magic to run some of the water through my hair, cleaning it, making it feel better. I nod off and wake up in chilly water, I shiver and get out of the tub, pulling the plug out to drain it.

I see some towels but a idea hits me, I use my magic to get most of the water off of me first, then use the towel to finish the job. I'm not sure where to put the towel once I'm done with it. I see a basket and put it in there, I head out to my room and see the bags of clothes from yesterday are at the foot of my bed. I smile, Asami must have brought them up for me. I sigh as I have to get dressed now, I put on panties again and look through the dresses I got yesterday. I get reminded of Vaatu when I see the one with red on it, so I pick the blue and white one. It's almost the same as the one I wore yesterday, but it hangs on my shoulders, not my neck. It still shows my back and arms (and something Opal called cleavage), so I don't feel like I'm being restrained.

I put on some brown and blue sandals from yesterday and head out in search of Asami. I don't have to look it turns out, as she's standing outside my door waiting for me. She's wearing black pants with a red shirt, I get reminded of Vaatu again, but then she smiles and I forget all about him. "Good morning Korra, we need to do something with your hair, it's a mess honey."

She blushes at having used a pet name for me, I smile, "Good morning. What's wrong with my hair? I washed it." I say feeling slightly defensive.

She giggles, "I'm sure you did, but you need to brush and comb it too. I'll show you." She takes my hand and leads me back into my room and has me sit in front of a desk with a mirror on it. She grabs a spiky object from the desk and starts running it through my hair, I feel it tug and pull.

"Ow. Asami this hurts." I pout looking at her in the mirror.

She giggles, "That's because I bet this is the first time you've ever had this done. It gets easier." It does seem to get less painful as she continues. Soon she seems satisfied and my hair rests evenly around my head, just above my shoulders. I admit it looks tidier like this, I'm still not sure if the pain was worth it though. Why do so many human traditions hurt? Bras, tight pants, and now hair brushing. Asami kisses the top of my head and I forget all about human silliness. I see my face blush in the mirror, "All done! You look beautiful Korra."

I smile and look up at her, "Thank you Asami, you look great too." We head out of my room hand in hand and Asami says we're getting breakfast. I smile at the thought, and lean into her as we walk along. Hiroshi is already at the table when we get to the dining area, he's reading some pages and sipping a drink. Asami tenses as she looks at the pages Hiroshi is holding.

I am about to ask what's wrong when Hiroshi looks up and smiles at us, then he frowns. "I told you they'd be awful in the press." He taps the front page and I see a image of me and Asami at dinner last night, I'm kissing her cheek at the dinner table.

Asami sighs and reads the headline out loud, "'Tech Tycoon Heiress a Lesbian?!'" She scoffs. "It sounds like something the 'Inquirer' would run as a title, not the 'Herald'."

I squeeze her hand and kiss her cheek, causing her to blush and look over at me, "At least we look good in the picture." I say smiling at Asami.

Hiroshi laughs, "Way to keep positive Korra. I like you already." I smile and thank him, then Asami and I take our seats and start eating breakfast. Conversation is light and Hiroshi has to leave to head to work, "Finalizing the finalizing" he says with a sigh. Asami hugs him goodbye and I wish him luck, for which he thanks me.

After he's gone Asami reads the full article about us, though mainly her. I'm apparently "mystery woman in a blue dress" it's not wrong, but it's kind of funny to me. Asami looks up after she's done reading, "Well it could be worse Korra, and I'm glad we told dad before he read this." I nod, "Although they're calling my previous relationships a farce, that I was trying to hide who I really am."

I raise an eyebrow at her, "Why would you having boyfriends mean you can't have a girlfriend?"

She laughs, "It's a stupid human thing, it's called heteronormativity, it means people assume you're straight (attracted to the opposite gender) and cis (identify as the same gender as your birth sex)." She rolls her eyes, "It's not like we've known that there are whole spectrums of gender identity and orientation for hundreds of years." She says sarcastically.

I giggle at her humor, "So this 'newspaper' talks about who's dating whom? And it goes out to everyone? Why is it everyone's business who you date?"

Asami sighs, "It isn't, but I am a rich person and a minor celebrity, thanks to my high IQ and winning some tech awards last year. So keeping my private life private is next to impossible now." She looks over at me frowning, "I'm afraid it's going to get worse, there may be paparazzi following us if we head into town again." She sees my blank look, "People who get paid to take 'scandalous' pictures of celebrities and their families, lovers especially."

I am about to respond with disgust when Asami's pants start ringing. She pulls a square thing out of her pocket, looks at me apologetically and holds it to her ear. "Hey Opal... Yes I saw the paper..." I hear a muffled squeal come from the thing, Asami holds it away from her head and grimaces. "Yes, you can tell everyone that we're a couple since it's apparently public knowledge now."

I giggle and can't help but lean over and kiss Asami's cheek while she apparently talks to Opal through her device. Asami blushes and looks at me in shock for a second, "Opal I have to go... Yes! I'm going to kiss the hell out of Korra." With that she shoves the thing onto the table and pulls me into a tight embrace. I smile into the kiss, aggressively kissing Asami is back from last night! I start to really get into the kiss, feeling her lips on mine as she slips her tongue into my mouth. I moan in pleasure and I relax into the act. Then I lose my balance and we end up banging our heads on the floor.

Our legs are tangled and I think I'm going to have a bruise on my side where I landed on the chair. I start laughing, and Asami joins me as we lay in a tangled mess on the dinning room floor. "We suck at this!" I manage to say as we're slowly getting back up.

Asami is still laughing at our clumsiness, "I know! I feel like a silly teenager again!"

I sigh as I sit back down in the righted chair, "It's just as well, I need to try and contact Jian. As much as I'd like to just spend the day with you again." I say as I take hold of her hand.

She sighs, "I know, and I have to head to R&D and get back to work on some designs for dad." She kisses my cheek, then looks sad.

I put my hand on her cheek and kiss her lightly on the lips, "I'll be here when you get back Asami. I'm your girlfriend remember? I don't want to change your life, just to become a part of it."

She smiles and pulls me into a hug, "Thank you Korra, I'm so happy we're together. When we met I was shocked by you being a mermaid, but also by how beautiful you were. Then when you showed interest in me... I just about cried at the gift life had given me."

I blush, but I can't look away, she's confessing so much to me, I see the vulnerability in her eyes. "I'm so happy I met you too Asami, as much as things are messed up for me right now, I wouldn't trade meeting you for anything."

We stay like that, standing and holding each other for what feels like forever, then she pulls away from me and I feel a sense of loss with her not pressed against me. I walk her to the garage and all the way to the car, we hold each other's hands as we go. Neither of us want to let go, but she does when she gets in the car. I wave as she leaves and sigh when the door closes behind her car. I head back inside and try and find my way out to the outside area of the house. I manage to not get lost and soon I'm outside walking on a gravel path with flowers and some artistically placed rocks.

I see a large rock by itself off in the near distance and head over to it. I climb on top of it and sit, I close my eyes and start meditating. "Jian." I say in my head, "I am Korra of the merfolk, I ask for your aid. Vaatu is going to upset the balance of the world." I keep saying it in my head over and over. Soon I'm in a trance and I feel the light from before I talked to Tui/La, it washes over me and leaves almost before I feel it. Then I sense Vaatu's cold come again, I feel him laughing at me, at how small and weak I am. Then he too leaves and I feel exhausted, I open my eyes and a statue is looking at me.

No, not a statue, it's a living rock. It's taken the shape of a muscular nude man, and seems to be appraising me. "Humph!" It scoffs, it sounds like rocks grinding together. "You have strong muscles, a kind spirit, and you have conviction. You will do, though I would have preferred a human come back to me. But champions are made not born. You will suffice, or you will die." Jian shrugs and waits for me to say something.

I bow my head, "Mighty Jian, I thank you for listening to my plea." He raises one of his hands to silence me.

"I'm not here for you, Tui and La told me about what Vaatu is doing. I have felt it too, the heart of the earth is restless. If things stay like they are, then earthquakes and volcanoes will scour the earth and rid the world of the humans." He shakes his head, "I won't have that. I'm still upset at humans for abandoning me for their gears, but I still think of them as my children. So I'll help you, but this won't be as gentle and soft as when Tui and La gave you those legs."

I don't hide the fear that washes over me, "It will hurt to gain the earth magic?"

He sighs, it sounds like sand falling, "Normally no." He looks sad, "But time is against us. I'll need to give you the power of earth directly, there will be pain. But after I'm done, you will know how to move the earth, and I'll even put in a good word for you to Sha. She's the fire spirit you need to talk to next. Though I'd give yourself a day or two to get used to the new magic, too much of us messing with your body could leave you damaged."

I nod, "Okay, I'm ready. Do what you must." He nods his head then walks forward.

He reaches out and puts one hand on my forehead, the other he puts on my chest, above and between my breasts. I see a green light form below his hands, then I feel a blinding pain as it enters me. I scream out from the pain as I feel the power flow through me. I close my eyes, I see images flash through my mind, rocks floating in the air, metal twisting into new shapes. I feel another flash of pain as more images keep flooding through me, I feel my arms and legs twitch as they learn new movements. 

Then just as suddenly as it started it's over, I'm crying, in some ways I'm just now feeling how painful that was. Why does this have to hurt? What does it prove? I look up and Jian and he pulls me into a embrace, gently holding me as I let the pain subside. "Shh, you're very brave daughter of the waves. The pain will pass in time."

I keep crying into his smooth shoulder, it reminds me of my father, so strong, yet somehow soft. I pull away and Jian smiles at me, "Thank you Jian, I won't forget my mission, I will do everything I can to stop Vaatu."

He nods in approval, then seems to get excited, "Well? What are you waiting for Korra? Stand up and move a rock! It's been ages since I've seen a human do it!"

I giggle at his enthusiasm, I stand up and turn around, the rock I was sitting on should be ideal. I think about how to move it, and the image of the stance I need to take enters my mind. I widen my stance, and then lift my arms, focusing on the boulder as I do so. It floats into the air, I start laughing at how amazing it is. I do some motions and spin it around, then I spin it back and place it back exactly where it was. I hear a rhythmic thudding behind me, I turn to see Jian clapping his hands and smiling at me.

"Well done. Keep practicing, I have gifted you the forms needed to work the magic of the earth, but nothing will replace practice." I bow my head and he pats my shoulder, then he sinks into the earth, the ground closes behind him, as though he was never here.

I start practicing the new magics, raising rocks from beneath the ground, launching them forward, and a few other things. I sense that it will take time to really master this magic, that there is more than Jian showed me. On the positive side, after all that pain, and being forced-learned the new movements, I'm better at walking. The sun is well past it's zenith so I head back inside, I should rest a little after what I just experienced.

I'm about to make my way up to my room when I almost run into Nariko, "Sorry, miss Waters! I didn't see you there." She says a little panicky.

I calmly wave my arms, "It's fine Nariko, I'm the one wandering without knowing my way around." She relaxes and a thought occurs to me. Nariko has known Asami for years, maybe she can tell me more about her. What she was like before she met me. She's about to leave when I ask, "Nariko, if you have a minute I'd like to ask you some stuff."

She turns around and smiles at me, "Of course, what did you need?"

I feel awkward asking this, "Uh, well. I only met Asami recently, and everyone who knew her before me seems to think she's changed. That she's more outgoing and happy. What was she like before she met me?"

Nariko looks serious and motions for me to follow her, she leads me to my room and closes the door behind us. "Okay, that's a bit more involved than I thought you'd get." She pauses looking worried, "I don't want to speak out of turn, but I care about her. Not romantically, but as a friend and employee." I nod and she relaxes, "You know her mom died when she was very young." I nod. "Well, I think that event left her with a darkness, something that's never gone away. She's always been very business like and professional with me. That's not to say she's unkind, far from it. She's very accommodating and understanding, she's just got this part of her that she doesn't let others see."

I sit down on the bed and motion for her to continue, I'm all ears listening to her. "Well, when she's with you, she acts more...Warm. Like she's got this light inside of her, I thought that part of her might have died with her mother. I'm glad you bring that out in her." Nariko looks like she's about to cry, "I was afraid she'd be lonely and sad all her life, but no, here you are. You make her so happy." She starts crying and I stand up and pull her into a hug.

I rub her back, "She makes me happy too, I'm going through a rough part of my life right now. But just thinking about her makes me feel better, I'm glad I'm helping her too, I would hate to be a burden on her."

We pull away from each other and collect ourselves, Nariko smiles at me. "You aren't a burden Korra, you're a blessing. She looks so happy around you and when she thinks about you." I smile and start to tear up again, she raises her hands, "No! Don't start that again. I have work to do!" She smiles to show she's just making a joke, "Anyway, I hope this helped you Korra."

I nod, "It has, thank you." Nariko leaves and I'm alone, I smile and think about Asami, I see her face in my mind. I feel a lonely tug, she's not here right now, I'm alone. And Naga, my parents, they're in the sea, leagues away from me. I suddenly feel like I'm choking and I take my dress off and lay on the bed, sweating without being hot.

I start crying and think about all I've lost because of my uncle and Vaatu. I think I fall asleep, crying to myself. I hope I'm asleep, because I see a bright white light all around me, looking at me. It touches me and I flinch, but then it's gentle and warm and I embrace it. It soothes me wherever it touches, making me feel loved and accepted. I smile and reach out towards it, then it vanishes, like a small fish in the reef that hides when startled.

Then I feel the familiar cold of Vaatu. _"Ah! So you've learned how to toss some rocks!"_ His voice is full of contempt and a sick amusement, _"I AM spirituality incarnate! Do not think me complacent in letting you learn these magics. I let you learn them because when my reckoning is at hand, I want to feel your despair as you fail to stop me."_ Then he laughs and rushes through me, it feels like my body turns to ice, it's so cold.

I wake up and manage to rush to the toilet before I start puking my guts out. I continue to vomit for a few minutes before I feel somewhat like myself again. I drink some water from the sink, and look at myself in the mirror. I look paler, like I've been poisoned. I kind of have been, Vaatu keeps messing with my head. Making me sick with his violation of my soul. Is the power he gives you worth it uncle?

I stagger back to the bed and try and meditate to clear my mind of him. I slow my breathing and try and find that warm light again, I liked it. I don't find whatever that was, but I do see Jian, Tui and La. I smile and my spirit moves to be with them. They welcome me and offer me comfort, I feel the warm waters of the ocean, the bright light of the moon, and the solid embrace of the earth. I thank them for believing in me, I tell them I won't let Vaatu stop me from trying, no matter what he says. They nod and return me to my world, feeling better.

I hear a knock on the door, "Korra, it's me, can I come in?" Asami! I run to the door and open it, I pull Asami inside and close the door behind her. I kiss her as she blushes and returns my kiss just as strongly. I pull away after a bit and she smiles at me, her face flush with heat and need. "Did you miss me?" She says, then she looks down and blushes deeper, "Korra! Why are you naked?"

I look down, oh, right. I undressed before my nap, whoops. I'm glad it's Asami that found me like this, somebody else would have gotten the wrong idea. "Sorry, Asami. I just had to take a nap after learning some earth magic, and I feel more comfortable naked. I can get dressed if you like."

She smiles and shakes her head, "It's fine, I just got surprised by it. I'm glad you could contact Jian! I'd love to hear more about it... But dad wants to get to know you better. We're having dinner here." She looks worried. "Do you think we should tell him about what's going on? What you can do? Who you are?"

I think for a moment and sit on the bed again. "I don't know Asami, he's your father. If you trust him, I say we should tell him. I don't want to hide who I am from everyone, especially your friends and family."

She nods, "I do trust him. Let's head to dinner then, you better get dressed." I smile and put on my clothes again. And once again Asami looks pale and nervous, I hope this goes as well as last time.


	10. Dinner with Hiroshi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tells Asami's father about everything that's going on.

We descend the stairs hand in hand, I still tingle with the contact. I look over and smile at Asami, she's still nervous about what we're about to do. But I like Hiroshi, he seems to understand his daughter better than anyone, he'll understand this I think. "Asami, your dad will be fine with this. He seems as smart as you are."

She looks at me and her eyes still look nervous, but there's a hint of something in them. Like she is looking at something adorable, like a puffer fish. "I know he is Korra. But I hope he won't think you're crazy and try and take you away from me. Or that he freaks out and thinks you're a freak, a witch, something evil." She looks sad, voicing her fears about tonight.

I pull her into a kiss and she melts into me, I pull away, still holding her face. "It'll be fine Asami. I know what evil magic feels like." I shudder at remembering Vaatu's many violations of my meditations and sleep. "I don't use it, your father will understand the difference."

She looks at me and smiles, then frowns, "What do you mean you know what it feels like?"

I sigh and lean back against the wall at the base of the stairs, "Vaatu has been visiting me, taunting me. Telling me I'm weak, that no matter how much the other spirits help me I won't be able to stop him." I start to shiver at the memory of how _cold_ he feels when he "touches" me. "He could be right, but I won't stop trying to stop him. I'm on a mission from the spirits, from my family, my pod, and myself. I won't back down." I feel better having said it, voicing the vow I've made to myself feels liberating, powerful.

Asami smiles at me and kisses my cheek, "I know you can beat him Korra, you're amazing." She takes my hand and we resume our walk to the dinning area, "But right now I want my dad to know just how amazing you really are."

We enter the dining area, the food has been laid out and Hiroshi welcomes me, I thank him. He says he sent the servants home early, he wants us to feel free to talk about anything, just the three of us. Asami looks nervous again, despite her words a moment ago in the hallway. Hiroshi is looking at me though, "So Korra, I'd love to know more about you if you would indulge me. Where are you from?" He smiles pleasantly as he asks, genuinely interested in my answer.

I take a deep breath, "Well, Hiroshi, that will take some time to explain. I would ask that you let me finish and prove I'm not lying before you conclude anything about me."

He raises an eyebrow and leans back in his chair, "This should be interesting. Very well, proceed."

I smile nervously, "Thank you sir. I'm originally from the ocean off the coast, not an island, the ocean. I'm a mermaid." He raises his other eyebrow and looks like he's about to laugh, I raise my hand to forestall him, "Let me finish. I grew up with my pod a few miles off the coast, deep under the waves. We have magic, we can heat and cool water, aswell as move it with our will. This will prove I'm telling the truth." I move my arm and lift the water out of my glass on the table, I hold it in a perfect sphere then make it into solid ice. I float it to Asami who takes it and hands it to her father sitting next to her.

He looks astonished as he takes it from Asami, as if he doesn't believe it's real. "Korra..." He pauses, then he starts laughing and gets a twinkle in his eyes. "Korra Waters! Oh my god! That's such a cheeky name!" He keeps laughing, it's loud, he puts his whole belly into it and laughs like he doesn't ever want to stop. It's infectious, soon Asami and I are laughing with him. He finally stops and looks puzzled as he puts the sphere down in a empty bowl. "How is it that this is real? That you can do that? Why haven't we met your people sooner? How does this work?"

Asami and I smile at his questions, he's curious, baffled and excited. "I can do it because the spirits Tui and La gifted my people with the magic of water, in return we revere them, and give them thanks. Our people were once hunted to near extinction by humans. We haven't met before, because we hid, we still hide. I wouldn't be talking to you now if it weren't for some extreme circumstances."

He takes the information in, nodding as I talk, then he raises a finger, "What circumstances would those be?"

I frown, Asami squeezes my hand, "Remember that I told you my father was hurt? My uncle did that to him, then banished me from my pod. Banished me for talking to Asami, interaction with humans is forbidden. If it were just that, as bad as it is, I wouldn't be here, there's more." I take another deep breath, this is the weird part, "My uncle is working with a powerful spirit, Vaatu, he's dark and ancient and powerful. More powerful than any of the other spirits that still watch over humans. Though your people have forgotten them."

Hiroshi's face is impassive, unreadable, he looks over at Asami, "Can you confirm any of this? That these spirits are real?"

She looks at him nervously, "I can confirm only that Korra believes in them, and that she says she's talked to them. I have no reason to believe she's crazy dad, as insane as it sounds, our world may be in danger from something that's fallen into myth and legend."

He raises an eyebrow again, "The world? Surely with our guns, missiles and planes a lone man with some magic would be no match?"

I shake my head, "What if he melted the metal in your hands? Burned your explosives? Removed the air from around your planes? These are the powers I seek to counter Vaatu with. His are much worse, he can ignore your physical attacks. They will be as effective as sand trying to stop a tidal wave."

He looks at me skeptically, "Truly? How do you know this? How do you know this Vaatu has that kind of power?"

I shudder, not from Hiroshi, but from the memories of Vaatu, "He's talked to me, every time I sleep or meditate, he's there. He laughs at me, makes me feel cold, alone, powerless. He radiates power sir, like nothing I've ever felt before. He'll make the largest typhoon you've ever seen look like a pleasant gust of wind on a hot day. That's why I'm up here, I'm on a mission to find other spirits. To call on their aid, to stop him from spreading to the whole world, sowing chaos and despair."

Asami is rubbing my arm, I reach over and hold her hand, smiling at her comforting touch. Hiroshi is looking thoughtful, "This is a lot to take in, first I find out you're apparently a mermaid, then you show me you can make water bend to your will. And now you tell me that the world is under siege from some dark avatar of chaos itself."

I nod, "I understand, I can scarcely belive what my world has turned into. Before this week, the most scary thing in my world was the thought of a angry Orca attacking my pod. Now I'm tasked by the spirits my people worship with saving the world from a dark spirit? To say it's overwhelming would be understating it."

He nods, "It is overwhelming. But let's focus on happier things, and eat this wonderful food, before it becomes too cold."

I smile and we start eating the dinner. We do so in near silence, Asami smiles at me in worry, Hiroshi is thinking about what I've told him. For myself I'm trying to keep positive and actually eat the food, talking so much about Vaatu has nearly ruined my appetite. I manage to eat enough to where I know I won't be hungry later tonight. After dinner Hiroshi says he'll clean up, saying he needs to think on what I've told him more. I thank him and head upstairs with Asami.

I feel tired, even with my nap today, I haven't had a good nights sleep since I was banished. Asami is looking concerned as we stand outside my room, "Korra, what you said about Vaatu... I'm sorry he's been tormenting you. I wish there was something I could do to help you."

I smile and run my hand up her arm, "You are, just knowing you're here helps me." I get a thought, "Actually, would you mind sleeping next to me tonight? I don't want to be alone after everything I talked about."

She smiles and leads us into my room, "Of course not. I'd love to Korra."

We get ready for bed, Asami changes into a very soft dress she calls a nightgown, then she insists I wear one too. I frown at her, and she relents and says I don't have to, if it makes me uncomfortable. We lie in bed, under the blanket, I feel her warmth beside me. I cuddle close to her and quickly I'm falling asleep in her arms.

I feel a warm white light all around me, I smile, I reach out and invite the warmth to me. It seems to hesitate, then it moves forward, I feel even warmer and happier with it touching me. Then it vanishes, I'm confused, then I feel Vaatu's coldness, his laugh fills my ears. _"Hello again Korra, did you miss me?"_

"Go away Vaatu. Don't you have better things to do with your time than to interrupt my sleep?"

He laughs again, _"You're far more interesting than your uncle, he has a simple kind of hatred. He wants to destroy the humans that sent the merfolk into hiding all those centuries ago. You have a different kind of mind entirely, so warm and hopeful, it nourishes me."_

I growl in anger, "So you're what? A leech? Feeding from my emotions? Well you're not welcome here! Go away!" I try and sound stronger than I feel, Vaatu laughs and moves through me, violating my whole being, then he's gone.

"Korra!" I wake up with Asami looking at me in concern, I don't have time to think more on it as I pull out of her arms and retch over the side of the bed. All of the wonderful dinner ends up on the floor next to the bed, I feel shaky and cold, Asami is trying to comfort me. She brings me a glass of water and has me drink it while she cleans up my mess on the floor.

Once she's done and I've emptied the glass Asami sits next to me in the bed, holding me in her arms. "What happened Korra? You started moaning in your sleep and then your body went cold, like you'd been in ice water."

I start crying and Asami wipes the tears away and pulls me closer, "Vaatu. He came again. It's like he feeds on my happiness, makes me cold and sick."

Asami is rubbing me, trying to warm me up with her own body. "I'm so sorry Korra. Nobody should have to go through something like that."

I smile a little, and rest my head on her shoulder, "You're helping, just being here. I feel safer, loved." I look up at her and see her start to cry, I pull her to me and we just hold each other as we cry. 

Soon enough we're done crying and we both feel better. Then we're falling asleep in each other's arms again. She starts to snore and I smile as I drift off to the rhythm of her breathing.


	11. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra meets Raava, but is she going to help Korra and Asami fight Vaatu?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best work, TBH, but it's another chapter, so there's that. :)

I'm drifting through a white void, it's warm and safe. It feels like home, love, happiness. I look around me, at the white light, "Who are you? Why do you always abandon me when Vaatu arrives?" I ask, wondering if I'll get a response.

Instead of words I feel the light enter me, filling me with heat, energy. I smile and start laughing, it's like pure joy has entered me. Then I suddenly feel like half my body goes numb, I look down at myself and my left side is still there, new leg and all. The right side is gone, but instead of guts and bones sticking out, it's like I'm a whole person with only one side to them. I look over to the right and there's another me, she only has a right side of her body, she looks angry, resentful.

I reach out to her, to tell her that I'm sorry, that I forgive her, for what I don't know. She looks even more angry and floats away into darkness. I start crying, I'm half a person, I feel warm and safe, but without the other me what am I? The light exits me and I look down and I'm whole again. "Raava? You're Raava. Vaatu's equal. You two used to be one person, but then you had a fight and now you're apart, broken. He doesn't want to return to you, he still hates you." I see the light dim into a more blue tone, "I'm sorry Raava. I didn't know. I still have to try and stop him, he's going to destroy everything if he gets the chance."

A calm, warm, almost motherly voice replies, _"I know, Korra, he's grown resentful of humans. I've tried to tell him to just leave you alone, like I have, but he cares too much. You take a burden onto yourself that is beyond you child. You can no more stop Vaatu than you can will a typhoon to leave you on the ground."_

"What do you mean cares too much? He wants to help my uncle kill everyone on the surface! How is that caring?"

_"Korra, I'm only visiting you because Vaatu is cruel in his love of humans. Where I believe you are at your best when left alone, to do what you want, to find your own power and thoughts. Vaatu believes you need guidance, that you are best when you struggle, that when you suffer you learn how to overcome."_

"So what? Vaatu is trying to _help_ me? By visiting me, making me sick, he's somehow trying to teach me to be stronger? And you just let him?"

The light dims to blue again, _"It's his way, I love humans my own way. I would leave you alone, as I've said. You're smart enough to make your own path through the world. I want to watch as you do things your own way, come into your own power, that has nothing to do with him or me. Like your lover, Asami. She's smart in ways you don't yet realize, she's the kind of person I know humans can become if left alone. You are on that path too, always searching for an answer. Trying to find your own way in the world, no matter the cost."_

I growl in frustration, "So you respect me, good. Why do you run from Vaatu? I know he hates you and I feel sorry for what your split from each other has done to you. But I could use the help." I start crying again, "I feel so powerless in front of him, like he's toying with me."

Raava reaches forward and soothes me, _"I know Korra, I'm sorry. Even getting this involved makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to accidentally change who you are by helping you. You're so_ bright _Korra. I am amazed by it, by you. I don't want to change you by helping you. Vaatu helped your uncle and he's gone mad with power, with desire to change his world for the better. I don't want the same to happen to you. Keep trying Korra, you may surprise us all."_

With that she fades and I yell at her to come back, it doesn't stop her. Then I'm waking up in Asami's arms, she's awake and smiling at me. "Hey there beautiful." She says.

I yawn and smile back at her, "I was going to say the same thing. Thank you for being with me, sorry about your floor."

She kisses my forehead, "You're welcome Korra, don't worry about the floor. I just wish there was more I could do." She looks sad about what she's said.

I place my hand on her cheek, "You've done more than I could ask for Asami." She smiles and holds my hand. "Also I just met Raava." her eyes go wide in excitement. "Buuuut, she isn't going to help. Apparently that's the reason why they split in the first place. Vaatu wanted to get directly involved with the humans, Raava wants to leave us alone and have us find our own way."

Asami sits up and thinks for a moment, "So this split of theirs is all about how they wanted to treat humans?"

I shrug as I sit up, "That's what she told me. It seems Vaatu wants to 'test' us, put us through hell so we can overcome hardship and thus evolve and persevere. Raava would leave us alone, even in the most dire situations. I think they're both arrogant and stubborn." I surprise myself by saying that, having been taught to revere the spirits, but I mean the words. Neither of them are right, surely a middle ground would be far better than what is going on now? Vaatu has twisted without Raava's kindness into something that just wants destruction. And Raava constantly runs from Vaatu, taking noninterference to a absurd level, abandoning us to Vaatu's whims.

Asami looks deep in thought about what I've told her, I nudge her arm with my elbow. She snaps her head up and blushes, "Sorry I was lost in thought. So Vaatu wants to help humans? In his own way?"

I sigh, "Yeah, I mean I gather that was what he _used_ to do. Now that he's split from Raava he lacks empathy, so he just wants to see us try and stop him. If we succeed, congratulations! We win our lives! If we fail, he doesn't care, it wasn't that important to him."

Asami looks at me with a puzzled expression, "You keep saying that he split from Raava, you mean that literally don't you?"

I nod, "Raava showed me what it felt like to her, she gave me a vision of half my body leaving me. I looked over at myself and she was angry at me, insulted. I tried to apologize but she left even angrier."

Asami looks at me with sympathy in her eyes, "That sounds awful, I feel bad for her, for Raava."

I nod, "Me too, I think Raava and Vaatu only work well if they're together. Apart they're unbalanced, prone to extremism." I sigh, "Still it's nice to know that Raava is at least watching what's going on. But I need to practice again today for the fight ahead."

Asami smiles at me, "You'll do great Korra, I believe in you." It warms my chest to hear her say that, I smile back and kiss her.

After we kiss for a few minutes we head to separate baths, I would love to bathe with her, but I'm not ready to be intimate like that, not with all this pressure on my mind. I relax into the warm water and try to push the thoughts of saving the world from my mind, at least for one bath, I can't though. Soon I'm drying myself off and I head out into my room, and put on panties and decide to wear a sleeveless dress with blue and brown stripes going diagonally across it. After tying it behind my neck, I sit in front of the mirror thing and start trying to brush my hair like Asami did yesterday, I manage to get it looking reasonable and I put on my sandals and head out to meet Asami.

She's standing outside my door, she smiles and takes my hand in hers as we head to breakfast. Hiroshi is reading the paper and smiles at Asami when we arrive, he glances at our hands and I see his face go dark for a second before returning to a smile. The food is some kind of sweet tasting juice on top of bread, it's wonderful and I moan more than once in pleasure. The food is _way_ better on the surface. Asami heads to the bathroom at one point and Hiroshi takes the moment to talk to me directly.

"Korra, my daughter clearly loves you, she's happier than she's been in years. That's why I'm not throwing you out of my house right now." I'm shocked by his words, he seemed nice yesterday, what changed? "But I don't approve of you filling her head with this spirit nonsense. I don't believe that this 'Vaatu' even exists. If he doesn't and this is just a pretense so you can get close to my daughter and take advantage of her..." The hurt and anger in his eyes speaks clearly what harming Asami would mean.

I look him right in the eyes, "Hiroshi, I'm being completely honest with you and Asami. There's no hidden agenda, I love her too. I'd never do anything to hurt her."

He continues to stare at me, he grunts, "Fine, you can stay here since you have no money or other options. But I don't like that you slept with my daughter last night."

I look at him confused, "We just cuddled sir, I needed the comfort with Vaatu's nightly visits."

He looks at me skeptically, "You're saying you didn't have sex last night?"

I blush at his forwardness, "No sir, we didn't. Honestly I'm not ready, we're moving so fast as it is." I say looking down.

He's about to say something when Asami comes back, "What did I miss?" She looks at me blushing and Hiroshi doesn't smile fast enough for her to have missed his stern look. "Ah. The 'don't hurt my daughter or I'll ruin your life' speech. Dad, go easy on her, she had a rough night."

He smiles at her indulgently, "Sorry honey, I just worry about you, that's all."

She sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder, "I know dad, but I'm an adult, you can't protect me forever."

His smile broadens, "I can try."

I get reminded of my father looking at the two of them, the sudden pang of knowing that I won't be able to visit him until this is all over hits me. I push out my chair and make to leave, I feel Asami's hand on my shoulder and turn to face her, tears in my eyes. "Korra, are you okay? Dad's just being protective."

"I know that, I just remembered my dad just now, seeing you two. I miss him so much Asami."

She pulls me into a hug and rubs my back, after a bit I feel better and look up to see Hiroshi is gone and we're alone. Asami says she is working on something special, and that she needs to continue with it. I smile and see her off again, then I head outside and start practicing earth magic. I start stomping the ground to raise pillars of earth, then punch to send pieces of them flying forward. After a half hour of practice I feel a little fatigued and sit next to a fountain. As I'm resting a thought occurs to me, I pull some of the water out and freeze it into a pillar. I start doing the earth-style punches, focusing on the pillar of ice, I launch disk after disk of ice from the pillar. I smile, I just invented a new type of water magic!

Invigorated I continue practicing using the earth, then I start trying to use the water and earth at the same time. It's difficult but the results are worth it, with the water acting like a whip, I can hold an opponent still, then smack them with a boulder. I'm sweaty and tired by the time the sun is just past noon. I head inside to wash up, I strip out of my dress and panties and run another bath. I quickly wash up and put my dress back on, using new panties as the others were soaked with my sweat.

I decide to risk meditating and I sit on my bed. Soon I'm in a familiar cold blackness, "Hey Vaatu. Fuck off." I say not feeling in the mood for his antics at all.

 _"My, oh my! The little girl has claws now!_ He laughs and I see his red eye form in front of me. He seems to examine me, _"Raava, you spoke to Raava. That explains much. Did she tell you what she did? Why I had to leave her?"_

This is the most civil Vaatu's been so far, I decide to be polite, see where that gets me, "No, she just showed me that you left, you were angry at her, and that you didn't want to hear her apology."

The eye seems to dim, almost like it's sad, _"It's true, I didn't feel like forgiving her for what she did, or more accurately, what she made us_ not _do."_

I surprise myself by reaching out to caress Vaatu, "I'm sorry, what didn't she want you to do?"

He recoils from my touch, _"Enough of this! Ask her yourself!"_ With that he vanishes, leaving me alone in a neutral void.

I come out of my meditation confused, but at least I'm not vomiting this time. What did Vaatu want to do that Raava stopped him from doing? I shake my head, no use in trying to guess, I'll have to ask Raava if she shows up again. I hear a knock on my room's door.

"Hey Korra, this is Opal. You remember from the other day? Asami said you might be lonely and overwork yourself, so she sent me to keep you company!" I smile and open the door for Opal.

"Hey, it's good to see you." I smile at her after opening the door, she's wearing a green dress that goes to her shins, and a broad silver necklace. "I was just meditating after doing some martial arts training in the back yard."

Opal giggles, "Martial arts! That's where those guns came from!" She points to my biceps, "I was wondering what you did in your spare time. Ya know, when you're not being half of the most adorable couple in the city."

I blush, "So, what did you want to do?" I ask changing the subject.

Opal gladly takes the hint and my arm and leads me through the house, "Well I thought we could get to know each other better." She pauses before we head out to the garden, "Actually it was Asami's idea, she said to tell you; 'I trust her with everything Korra, you can tell her everything, she could help us' and I have no idea what that means but it sounds exciting!"

I smile, "I think I know what she means. Lets head to the fountain and I'll tell you all about exactly how we met and what I can do."

Curious Opal follows me to the fountain, where I explain to her about being a mermaid and everything, just like I did with Hiroshi. I give Opal a bit of frozen water as proof of magic. "This is amazing!" She says holding it and turning it around, "So wait, if magic is real and you're a mermaid, why don't you have a tail?"

I wince at the memory of losing my tail, "Tui and La (the spirits of the ocean and moon) gave me legs so I could learn to fight a powerful dark spirit who threatens to destroy the world."

Opal looks at me then starts laughing, "What, the, fuck!" She starts rolling on the ground, she's laughing so hard. "Oh god! I c-can't breathe!"

I look at her bemused, "What's so funny? I'm serious, Vaatu will try and destroy the world."

She recovers herself and brushes the dust off her dress, "I'm sorry, it just sounds like a kids movie! 'Adventurous mermaid wonders about the surface world! Little does she know that she will have to live among humans while evil lurks in the deep! Only through her courage and the help of her human girlfriend will she save the world!' Okay, the girlfriend part wouldn't be in there, but still!"

I sigh, "Opal, this is real life, not a child's story, Vaatu is very powerful and incredibly ancient. I'm not some chosen hero from a story, I'm real flesh and blood. I bleed just like you do, I can die just as easily. Only through the magic of the spirits will I have a slight chance to stop him."

Opal sighs and tries to look serious, "Okay, so if this spirit magic can make you stronger what about me? Can I learn to use it? Can I help fight Vaatu?"

I think for a moment, then I smile, "There's one way to find out, just don't freak out. This could be weird for you to see."

She smiles at me, "Weirder than water that floats and turns into ice at a gesture?"

I nod, "Much weirder, I'm going to introduce you to Jian, the earth spirit."


	12. Escalation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tries to get Jian to teach Opal the ways of earth magic, but darker things are in motion already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus, I got depressed, then real life got real, then more depressed. Then I moved into a new place, and started feeling better, and now here we are. Again I'm sorry for the wait! :(

“When is this Jian going to show up?” Opal asks me, sounding annoyed, or possibly frustrated. I can’t say that I blame her, I’ve been meditating for an hour, and not even Vaatu has shown up.

“I don’t know Opal, he came quickly last ti-” Suddenly the earth opens up and Jian is standing there, looking sternly at Opal.

“Chosen of the spirits, you’ve summoned me for this whelp?” He sounds just like I remember, like gravel rubbing together, he looks Opal up and down, appraising her, like he did me. Opal looks like she’s in a mix of shock and awe. “No, she has the wrong mind for my gift. It is a good idea to recruit humans to help you, but while this one can be bold, she is also... Un-tethered. She doesn’t like holding still.”

Jian turns to me, “I’m sorry, but she can learn nothing from me. Don’t forget to talk to Sha tomorrow, she’s excited to meet you.” He says it with a smile on his face, before sinking into the ground as though he was never here.

I look up and Opal is staring at the ground where he vanished, her mouth hangs open and her eyes are wide. “Opal? Are you okay? I’m sorry he wouldn’t teach yo-” 

Suddenly Opal squeals and pulls me into a tight hug, “THAT WAS AMAZING! Holy fucking shit damn!”

I gently try and un-entangle myself, only to have Opal pull away and babble at me as she walks around where Jian was. “That was real right? He was real and really here? He said I had the wrong mind? What does that mean? Are all the spirits like that? Are there sexy tree nymphs? I mean Jian was pretty hot looking. There must be. Holy shit!”

I wait for a moment to see if she’s done talking, “Did you want me to answer those in a particular order or...?”

She giggles, “Shit, I’m babbling, sorry. Why couldn’t he teach me? What’s wrong with my mind?” She glares at the ground where Jian left, “I rather like my mind thank you very much!”

I feel myself smirk at her antics, this lady is a handful, “I don’t know Opal, I’m sorry he wouldn’t or couldn’t teach you. Maybe another spirit will, though I don’t think Tui and La are recruiting humans. They have all the merfolk, and are busy trying keep Unalaq in check, I hope.”

“Right, your uncle. How long do you think he’s going to stay under the water? Surely with Vaatu’s help he could attack us at any time.”

The thought has occurred to me. “I don’t know why he hasn’t attacked already. Vaatu said he was toying with me, waiting for me to learn all the magics before attacking. Maybe that’s why?”

Just then I hear music from Opal’s bag, “One sec sorry, it’s Asami.” She pulls out a device and starts talking, “Hey girl, how are you? Wait, what’s wrong? Korra is right here, yes I’ll hand you to her.” Opal hands me the thing, I put it to my ear.

“Hello? Asami?” I feel weird trying to talk to her like this.

“Korra, oh, thank goodness. I was afraid you’d be visiting the sea, have you seen the news? I think your uncle is doing something out there.”

I feel my stomach clench, “What’s he doing?”

“It’s better if you see it, have Opal show you the news on the TV. Stay safe, please, I can’t lose you.”

What’s going on? I start tearing up as I reply, “I love you too, Asami.”

I hear her sigh on the other end, “I have to go now, I’ll be home as soon as I can get away.”

I hear a dull tone, I hand the thing back to Opal, “She says we need to see the news on the TV.”

Opal nods and leads me to one of the rooms in the mansion. A rectangle lights up and images appear, I can’t make sense of it at first, then I see it’s the bay. The place I met Asami for the first time, not even two weeks ago. The beach has been flooded, people are running from the water as it comes in waves and seems to be trying to drag people under. There’s a man’s voice coming from “TV.” 

“As you can see, from these images, the ocean has become unstable. Scientists are baffled as there is no seismic force causing the waves to behave this way. There are also no storms off the coast, this tidal activity is unprecedented and I urge everyone to stay home and avoid the ocean. My thoughts go out to all the people who have been caught out on the ocean at this time.” The image changes and a man is sitting behind a desk, “We will do our best to keep you all appraised of the ongoing situation. We now take you to-” Opal turns it off.

She looks over at me, horror in her face, “Your magic can do that? What are you?”

“I’d never do that, and I didn’t think anything on this scale was even possible!” I plead with her, “I don’t want to hurt anyone, that’s why I gave up my tail, why I’m learning new magics. It’s why I can’t be with my father and my mother right now!” I fall to the ground and start crying, Opal joins me on the ground and pulls me into a hug.

“Shh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I nod my head and just keep crying into her shoulder.

After a bit I pull myself together, “It’s okay Opal, I just hope everyone out there is okay. It looked very bad.”

Opal pulls out of the hug, “It did, I hate to leave you alone, but if I can’t learn spirit magic, I need to do what I can to help people. I can help with the rescue efforts and establish temporary housing for people whose homes have been ravaged.”

I nod, “That’s a good idea, go help them Opal. I need to do what Tui and La asked of me.”

“Right. Stay safe, Asami will kill you if you die.”

Opal leaves and I head back to the garden, I look up and the sky is still normal, so Unalaq and Vaatu haven’t done anything to the weather yet. I sit down on a bench and start meditating, looking for Sha. I fall into a trance and see Raava around me, “Hi, sorry I can’t talk right now, I’m looking for a spirit that will actually help me.”

Raava dims to a cold blue, _“I’m sorry, but I can’t interfere, it could make things worse.”_

I growl, “Things are already worse! My uncle has turned the ocean into a death trap for anything that goes near it! You have the power to stop it but won’t do anything!”

Raava’s brightness grows and nearly blinds me, _“Do not speak to me of power! I know how much I could do to stop this! I also know that I could never stop doing it!”_ She dims again, _“Korra, to interfere would be to force my will onto humans. I’d be no better than Vaatu, trying to shape the world in my image. It would be wrong.”_

Vaatu’s image comes back to my mind, “What did you force him not to do? Why did he leave you?”

She flares up again, but I hold firm, _“Humans were attacking another group of humans, it is the way of some. Vaatu was angry, he had grown fond of the village. They were peaceful, they welcomed everyone into their homes. A group of mercenaries from far away were passing through and of course the village invited them to stay the night. They gladly accepted, then violated that trust. They ate more than their fill of the food, they drank as much as they could stand. When the villagers didn’t protest and quietly allowed them to do what they wanted they grew bold. They started taking the women into their beds, only then did the village start to fight back, only to be killed for ruining their ‘fun’._

_“Vaatu wanted to smite them where they stood. For defiling this wonderful place, where there was no war and no hate, I forbade it. That’s why he left me, he couldn’t stand the inaction any longer. Don’t misunderstand me, I felt all of those human’s pain, their fear. But I couldn’t interfere, it would mean ruling over humans, and I don’t want that power. No one should have that power, not even me.”_

I’m crying openly, “That’s horrible! I can see why he left you. What’s the point of having the power to help people and not use it? I’m not saying you had to kill those men, just stop them from killing anyone else.”

I feel a chill run down my back, _“I agree Korra, that’s why I left Raava. Hello old friend.”_

Raava turns almost pure blue, and can feel the resentment radiating off of both of them, _“Vaatu, leave these humans alone, they have done nothing to deserve this. Let us return to watching over them, together.”_

Vaatu laughs and it fills me with dread, _“Raava! That would be tantamount to killing them all! These humans are all, at their core, villains. They dress their selfishness in the same way they dress their bodies, to hide their nature. To hide the humiliating truth from themselves. No, I cannot allow the humans to continue to be left alone, they must learn the error of their ways!”_

_“You haven’t changed at all Vaatu! You would spend the rest of eternity controlling them, rather than let them find the truth for themselves!”_

“STOP IT!” I yell at them both, I swear I can feel Vaatu’s sneer, how dare the human speak, “This is pointless! You both want the best for humans, but you don’t trust us at all! Raava, you think we’re so flawed that to stop us from killing each other you’d need to do it every time we got angry. And Vaatu, you think that the only way we can understand ourselves is to have the worst of us shown to the world. You’re both arrogant and condescending! I’m going to save the world and neither of you will stop me!”

Vaatu laughs again, filling the void around himself with waves of crimson, _“Such spirit! I should have made you my avatar, and not your uncle! It matters little, his plan is started, soon the world will relearn why they fear the spirits, and come to me for guidance.”_

With that he rushes through me and leaves his sick coldness in his wake as he vanishes. Raava moves to warm me, I shove her back, “No. Don’t do that unless you’re going to really do something Raava. I don’t want your pity, I’ll take your help, but don’t patronize me.”

_“I’m sorry, I must do what I feel is right, even in this the human’s darkest hours. Farewell Korra.”_

Raava leaves and I open my eyes, I see Asami looking at me in concern, the sun is behind her head for some reason. Then I feel the pain in my back, “Oh thank goodness! Korra, don’t move, you’ve taken a fall while you were meditating.”

I try and get my bearings, “What happened? I was just talking to Vaatu and Raava, why am I on the ground? I was sitting.”

Asami frowns, “I don’t know, I came out here to find you, but you were feverish and muttering. Like you did last night, I was worried about you. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nod, then wince at the pain in my head I suddenly feel, “Okay, I may have hit my head on the way down, but I’m fine. I just need to rest.”

Asami helps me to my feet, I feel heavy, like I haven’t slept in days. “Okay Korra, let’s get you to bed, you look like you’re ill.” She blushes, “No offense.”

I smile and she softens her face, “None taken, I feel like I’m ill. Vaatu did something before he left, it must have done more than I thought.”

Asami guides me through the mansion to my bed and lays me down, then tucks the blankets around me, “Can I get you anything? More pillows or blankets? I think we have a heated one around somewhere. Let me go-”

“Asami.” I interrupt her, “Just join me, I feel better with you next to me.”

She smiles and kisses my forehead, then lays next to me, pulling the sheets back over us. She holds me close and I smile as I drift off into sleep.


End file.
